XKnights
by Dessarus
Summary: Five companions find themselves in the Marvel universe (Origonal Characters). [Chapter 4]
1. Arrival

A/N: This is my first piece of fan fiction. It tells the story of five heroes who find themselves in the Marvel universe and their adventures when they arrive. I'm not as up on the X-Men's history as I should be, so please forgive any inconsistencies.  
  
A/N: I've taken this opportunity to fix a few minor errors that were brought to my attention. Hope this improves things a bit.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-Men or am making any money off of this. Blah.  
  
The snow drifted gently to the ground, the white-coated pine trees swaying gracefully in the gentle breeze. A stillness seemed to hang in the air, a natural stillness broken only by the occasional bird swooping from tree to tree or a squirrel scuttling across the ground. A lone wolf, its lithe form dim in the shadows, slipped between the trees unnoticed. At places like this, nature seems to have stopped to admire itself in the dim moonlight.  
A crack ten times louder than thunder echoed across the forest, breaking the stillness and sending birds and beasts fleeing. Snow tumbled from the treetops to the ground, the trees shaking as though in fear. Accompanying this great noise was a bright flash of light that split through the gentle night like a knife in an instant, and then was gone as swiftly as it came. The only sign that anything had happened was the disturbed snow and the absence of the animals, long since fled. Well, not quite the only sign.  
"Damn it," the woman sputtered, shaking the snow off as she picked herself up off the forest floor. She wiped her long, raven blue-black hair from her face. Her tanned skin seemed to reflect the light back at the moon. Her bright green eyes were narrowed in annoyance. Her tight, form- fitting black leather outfit accented her perfect, lithely muscular figure; a red silk scarf tied around her neck her only acknowledgment to colour. A few years over twenty, she seemed a strange merger of Spanish beauty and biker.  
She grunted indelicately as she brushed the last few flakes of snow from her shoulders. "What the hell happened?"  
"My sentiments precisely, my dear." Sitting in a tree above her, the middle-aged man, with a fairly strong British accent, had a some-what strange smile on his face. He had a neatly trimmed, short brown beard and hair, and wore a simple brown robe and carried an oak staff. He seemed to be a hermit from a fairly cleaned-up movie about ancient England. Despite being ungainly perched in the branches of a tree, he seemed to have an air of majesty and power about him. "My sentiments precisely."  
"What are you doing up there, Druid?" the woman asked, exasperatedly.  
"It seems our friend has a bit of a sense of humour," Druid chuckled softly. The tree bent over, allowing Druid to step gently from its branches to the ground. He bowed politely to it. "Thank you." As if in response, the branches of the tree shook slightly, then the tree straightened up again.  
"Where do you think the others are?"  
Druid was about to respond when a cascade of swearing echoing from a snowdrift not far away cut him off. "I would surmise that Berzerker is not far off," he stated.  
"No kidding?" Just as the woman responded, the snowdrift exploded outwards in a flurry of snow and swearing. Out burst a young man, not yet twenty, stripped to the waist and wearing a simple pair of blue jeans. His short blond hair contrasted a face red with anger. His chest held the tattoo of a large, intricate hammer and a two headed serpent was tattooed with one head on each hand, the body winding up each arm and around his shoulders and the back of his neck. His powerful muscles rippled and flexed as if of their own volition. His features belayed Nordic ancestry. Despite the great cold, he was dripping sweat.  
"What the hell happened?" he yelled at his companions.  
"I just said that," the woman stated calmly.  
"Its worth saying twice, Rebel," came a soft voice from the shadow of the trees. A wealth of jet-black hair framed a smooth, perfect ebony face set with a bright pair of almond-coloured eyes. Younger than Druid but significantly older than the others, she bore herself with an unmistakable air of command and self-assurance. Subtly and attractively muscular, she wore what at best could be described as a sudo-commando outfit. Her eyes clearly showed her puzzlement and worry. "Is everyone all right?"  
"We're fine, Ebony" Rebel assured her a bit impatiently. "But where are we?"  
"Good question." The slightly older woman turned to Druid. "Well?"  
The strange man closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. "Hmm. north west, large continent. probably North American. cold climate. high elevation. no dense human population for some distance." His eyes snapped open and he nodded.  
The others waited for a moment, expectantly. Druid stood calmly, returning their gazes impassively. "Well," Ebony asked after a moment. "Where are we?"  
"I just told you," Druid replied seriously.  
Rebel gave an exasperated shout, throwing her hands to the air and storming off. Berzerker rolled his eyes and lay down in the snow, leaning against a tree. Ebony sighed and closed her eyes, her patience strained. "You do it deliberately, don't you?" she asked him.  
Druid merely shrugged, his face impassive. There might have been a glint of amusement hovering around his face somewhere, but it disappeared swiftly. "Canada," he stated simply. "The wilds of Canada."  
"Are you sure?" Druid raised his eyebrows slightly and stared at her for a moment. Ebony shook her head. "Silly question, I know. So how did we get here?"  
"That, my dear, I know not."  
Rebel paced up and down, rubbing her shoulders. "I'm freezing," she said absently.  
"Actually, I think it's a bit warm," Berzerker stated.  
Ebony looked at the half-naked man lounging in the snow. "You always think it's too warm," she said.  
"I have no complaint," Druid stated simply.  
"You wouldn't."  
"Where's Shadow?" Rebel asked suddenly, her face creased with worry. "Did anyone see him?"  
"Does anyone ever?" Berzerker asked pointedly.  
"I'm serious," she said, hitting the younger man on the back of the head. "Things don't affect him the same way as everyone else. What if when we got sent here."  
"He didn't," Ebony finished for her, now frowning.  
"Exactly."  
"We shouldn't give up hope quite yet, ladies," Druid assured them. "Let us search before we give him up for lost."  
"Good idea," Ebony said, nodding. She turned. "Berzerker, you stay here. We'll go out and have a look for Shadow. Be back here in a quarter of an hour." With that she began to walk off. She paused, then turned back and grinned at Druid. "You know, I think your slipping. I actually understood what you said."  
"It has been a long day," Druid admitted, shrugging slightly.  
Rebel walked away from the others, yelling into the night. "Shadow!" Her sweet voice echoed through the trees. "Shadow!"  
"Yes?" The hollow, hissing voice was just at her shoulder. She jumped into the air, spinning around and landing in a fighting position, a pair of glowing golden discs in her hands. Standing there was a solemn figure, dressed in a flowing black cloak with hood and cowl covering his whole face in shadows. A pair of red eyes glinted through the darkness. He wore a lose, black ninja outfit, and a black-hilted dagger was at his waist, its hilt designed to look like the head of a dragon eating the blade of the dagger, with the wings of the dragon pointing outwards and up the blade.  
"Don't do that," Rebel yelled at him, the discs disappearing.  
"Sorry."  
"Don't lie." Rebel grabbed him by his shoulder. "You do it on purpose. We all know you do."  
A faint, ghostly chuckle escaped Shadow as he allowed himself to be dragged back towards the others. Suddenly he stopped chuckling and grabbed Rebel, throwing her into the bushes and jumping after her.  
"What the." she began when he clamped his hand over her mouth, silencing her. Just then the roar of a jet burst overhead, setting all the forest trembling. Shadow removed his hand from Rebel's mouth, drawing his blade from its sheath with a steely hiss. "The others!" Rebel whispered.  
Shadow shook his head, then, motioning for Rebel to follow him, slipped off silently into the darkness. His feet left no tracks on the fresh snow, and his passing made no sound. Rebel followed after him, only moderately less unobtrusive. A bellow of rage echoed through the forest.  
They returned to where Rebel had left the others. Berzerker was there, floating in mid air, growling and swearing, appearing to be attacking the air. Five figures stood on the ground staring up at him. One was a fairly beautiful woman with a wealth of red hair dressed in blue and gold and seemed to be concentrating on something. One was a tall, serious-looking man in blue with a red visor covering his eyes. He was talking to two of the others, one a great, blue gorilla-like man, the other an African beauty with flowing white hair. The three of them where looking at a device that the gorilla-man was carrying. It was the last of the five that caught Shadow's attention, however. Dressed in a yellow costume with blue stripes, he was talking to Berzerker. Three long, sharp claws protruded from each fist.  
"Now look, bub," he said. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." He grinned. "Please say ye want ta do it the hard way." He flexed his hands meaningfully.  
Berzerker bellowed incoherently, white froth dripping from his lips as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Sweat poured off his body as he pounded harmlessly at the air, twisting this way and that.  
"Wild Man," Shadow hissed angrily.  
"He ain't talkin', Cyke," Wolverine said. "But there are more. Three more by my guess. And they ain't far."  
"All right," Cyclops nodded. "Stay alert, everyone. Jean, how are you doing?"  
"I can't hold him for much longer, Scott," she said through clenched teeth. "He's too strong, and he seems to be getting stronger."  
"They're here," Wolverine growled, sniffing the air, his claws popping from his fist. As he spoke an arc of black crystal shards burst from the overgrowth, hurtling towards the X-Men. Storm launched herself up into the air, the crystals falling harmlessly bellow her. Beast leapt into the branches of a tree, and Cyclops blasted the crystals from the air, protecting himself and Jean. Wolverine dashed towards the area where the crystals had appeared, but a globe of darkness appeared around him, halting him in his tracks.  
The tree branches wrapped around Beast, entwining him in a deadly embrace. A female figure of black crystal, the same type as the shards, jumped from the bushes, rolling on the ground bellow an optic blast from Cyclops and firing off another volley of shards from her arms at him. Rebel jumped from the cover, throwing half a dozen golden discs in the air at Storm. They exploded around the weather goddess, but a gust of wind kept them harmlessly away. Storm summoned a bolt of lightning down at the black-clad Spanish woman, but she moved almost before the lightning appeared, dodging out of the way.  
Beast had broken free of the tree, landing on the ground, but a wolf jumped out at him. He jumped away, grabbing it and hurling it at the tree. The wolf yelped, but jumped back at him instantly.  
Cyclops and Ebony (encased in an armour of black crystal) circled each other warily. Ebony feigned to the left, spun to the right and fired off another round of shards. Cyclops blasted them from the air then blasted Ebony, hurling her into a tree.  
Wolverine was surrounded by the darkness. He couldn't see anything, and though he could hear and smell the battle outside, he couldn't sense anyone else. He stormed forward, trying to escape the darkness. He gasped in surprise when a sharp, cold pain lanced through his side as a blade stabbed through him. He spun, slashing out at his assailant, but missed. He turned nervously, trying to sense his opponent. Suddenly he saw a pair of red eyes glinting in the darkness. He lashed at them, but his claws passed through the space as though nothing were there, only a faint chill surrounding his fist as it passed through where the face should be. A blade glinted briefly, from what light he knew not, and then stabbed him again, as he tried to twist away. His shoulder went numb with cold and he stumbled backwards, holding his arm in pain.  
Beast had knocked the wolf unconscious, and was dodging tree branches and roots as they tried to entangle him. As he dodged and weaved, he caught sight of a brown-robed figure standing at the side, seeming to direct the attacking plants. Dodging the foliage, Beast leapt for him, clearing a wall of brambles that tried to close around him, and landing on the figure. He knocked Druid reeling to the ground, sending his staff clattering to the floor.  
Druid leapt up immediately and attacked Beast, grabbing at him. Beast attempted to leap over his head, but Druid reacted uncommonly quickly and grabbed Beast's feet, spinning him into a tree. Beast grabbed the trunk of the tree, using it to spin round and kick Druid in the chest. As Druid fell, Beast jumped over to him. "There is no need for violence, my friend," Beast said, pinning Druid to the ground.  
"That's what you say," Rebel shouted as she burst in. A golden disc exploded on Beast's chest, hurling the surprised X-Man away. "Switch," she called to Druid, leaping over his head.  
Storm saw Cyclops blast Ebony, and she took the opportunity to hit the fallen woman with a bolt of lightning. The black crystal glowed bright red for a moment, and the snow around Ebony melted and the evaporated instantly. When the steam cleared, the armoured woman stood unharmed in the middle of a small circle of snow-less ground.  
Druid rolled to his feet, spotting Storm gathering the clouds about her. He caulked his head as if listening to something then widened his eyes his shock. A tree branch swooped him up, propelling him into then air. He landed on the tree nearest Storm, which grew to an immense height, putting him face to face with the startled African goddess.  
"My dear," he yelled over the buffeting winds. "I believe we should talk."  
Rebel landed, and a brief vision passed before her mind's eye. She ducked just in time for Beast to pass above her, his kick easily dodge. He rolled to a stop, turning to face the Spanish beauty.  
She hurled a pair of black discs at him, which he barely dodged. They disappeared into the woods, cutting through everything in their path. Beast leapt forward, but once again Rebel acted the quicker, and struck him full in the chest. The blow sent Beast flying away, knocking him into a tree. Another disc landed just bellow him and exploded into a huge net of black energy that enveloped him, pulling him to the ground and trapping him.  
Jean clutched at her temples. "Can't. hold him. any longer." She sighed and collapsed to the floor. Berzerker fell to the ground with a resounding thud, but he was up immediately and charging at her. Just as he reached her, Wolverine, who had escaped the darkness covered in deep wounds, hurled himself at the frothing madman, his claws digging deep into Berzerker's chest. "Run, Jeanie," he growled.  
Berzerker didn't seem to notice Wolverine for a second. When he did he grabbed the small man and lifted him effortlessly from the ground. Wolverine swung, his claws opening a wide gash in Berzerker's face. The blond teen didn't seem to care. He hurled Wolverine away like a child's toy and ran pounding after him.  
"Logan," Jean gasped, struggling to her feet. She sent out a telekinetic punch that should have knocked Berzerker from his feet, but the charging barbarian didn't even flinch. A blade pressed firmly against the back of her neck.  
"Don't try anything," a dark voice hissed from behind her.  
She lashed out instantly with a mental attack, trying to probe her assailant's mind. What she found was cold, dark emptiness. It seemed to surround her, pulling her in. She tired to pull away, but couldn't. She cried in pain, falling to the ground as the cold stabbed through her mind. Shadow stood above her, dagger poised for the killing stroke.  
A burst of red energy knocked him away. "Leave my wife alone," Cyclops yelled, charging to her side. "Jean," he said softly. "Are you OK?"  
"Dark," she muttered. "So dark and cold." She sobbed, like a beaten child, till she collapsed into unconsciousness in his arms.  
Only a gust of wind prevented the crystal shards from ending both their lives. Storm, with Druid beside her, landed between Ebony and Cyclops. "Stop," she said to the X-Men. "We must talk to these people."  
"Enough fighting," Druid said calmly to Ebony. "It is time for the knight to show his skills at the king's court."  
Ebony caulked her head slightly. The armour around her seemed to melt then retreat back into her body, leaving her standing there, and irritated expression on her face. "This is no time for riddles, Druid," she said.  
"Call everyone in," he said patiently. "I will explain."  
"Rebel, Shadow, enough fighting," she called out to the distance. "And Shadow, stop Berzerker before he kills someone."  
Berzerker, still frothing at the mouth, was currently trying to land a punch on Wolverine. Covered in cuts that would have killed a lesser man, the towering Nordic man wasn't even slowed. Wolverine was panting for breath, but easily avoiding Berzerker's powerful blows. He danced behind a tree, which Berzerker shattered with a single punch, the splinters of wood showering everywhere.  
Shadow stepped forward, his dagger sheathed. He placed a hand on Berzerker's chest, but rather than restrain his companion the hand sunk through. Berzerker lashed out at his friend, the cold stabbing through even his clouded mind, but his blows passed harmlessly through Shadow, as though Berzerker were punching a wisp of smoke. The blows slowed, then stopped, as Berzerker collapsed slowly to the floor. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his breathing stopped.  
"How is he?" Ebony asked, as Rebel returned, dragging a netted Beast behind her.  
Shadow knelt down, putting his hand to Berzerker's neck. After a full minute went buy, Shadow rose. "Bad," he said. "But he's been worse. Two beats."  
"Two heart beats in a minute?" the captured Beast wondered allowed, guessing at Shadow's meaning.  
"What the hell is goin' on, Cycke," Wolverine growled, eyeing the strangers wearily.  
"Ask Storm," Cyclops replied, still cradling Phoenix in his arms. His tone suggested that he wasn't any more pleased than Logan.  
"Why did we stop?" Rebel demanded of Ebony. "We were winning!" Ebony merely shrugged and pointed to Druid. Rebel sighed and dropped the net holding Beast. It disintegrated into nothing, leaving Beast free to rise and dust himself off.  
Druid and Storm found themselves the centre of everyone's attention. Storm turned to the rest of the X-Men. "This man and I have a kinship. I do not know how I know this, but he and I are not enemies. I do not think that his friends are our enemies either."  
"She speaks truly," Druid assures his friends. "The connection that binds me to all that lives is within her, too, though to a much lesser degree. She says her powers are a gift from 'the Goddess,' but they stem from Nature just as mine do. Though the voice of the world does not ring in her ears as clearly as in mine, it does murmur most violently at times."  
"Are you trying to imply that these are allies?" Ebony asked incredulously.  
Druid thought for a while, then nodded. "Yes."  
Cyclops shook his head, and then looked at Storm. "Are you sure about this, Storm?"  
"Trust me, Cyclops," she said gently. "We should not fight these people."  
"What about Wild Man?" Rebel yelled, waving a hand at Wolverine.  
"Who the hell ye talkin' about, kid?" Logan asked her.  
"I don't know where you got the change of costume," she said, walking threateningly forward. "Or how you learned to speak so well, but its you all right. The same mutant healing factor, the same claws."  
"The same blood," Shadow added, half drawing his blade pointedly.  
"Exactly." She jabbed a finger pointedly at Wolverine's chest. "So don't try to tell me you're not one of the Hunters."  
"I ain't heard of the Hunters," Wolverine growled, his face inches from hers. "But if ye don't back away, I'll rip yer throat out."  
"He's telling the truth," Ebony said in wonder. "He can't be Wild Man." She shook her head. She paused for a moment, as if she thought of something, and then turned to Cyclops. "Just tell me one thing. Have any of you heard of Lord Sumner?"  
"No," Cyclops said suspiciously. The others all agreed.  
"It worked." Ebony smiled broadly. "It actually worked!"  
"I think you should explain," Cyclops demanded.  
"It's a long story," Ebony warned him. She seemed much more relaxed now, and much happier. "Don't you have anywhere else we could all talk?"  
Cyclops considered this for a moment then nodded. "We'll go back to the Mansion. You can tell your story to everyone." He was still holding Jean closely, when she groaned slightly and shifted. "And you can tell us exactly who you are."  
  
The infirmary back at the mansion was their first stop on arriving. Both Berzerker and Jean were taken care of. At Ebony's advice, Beast let Berzerker alone. His friends claimed that the Nordic teen would recover on his own just fine. Jean, however, was a different matter. Her pulse was high but her brain was nearly inactive. She was sweating profusely and occasionally moaned as if in pain. Despite his best efforts, Beast could do little to improve her condition.  
"What did you do to her?" Cyclops demanded of Shadow.  
"Nothing," came the simple reply. After noticing Cyclops' expression, Shadow shook his head and glanced at Ebony. She nodded imperceptibly. "She did it to herself," he continued. "She tried to attack my mind. My. powers give me an automatic defence towards mental attacks, even a simple mind read. The only chance she has of surviving is her own strength. If she hasn't gotten better in an hour, give up hope." With that, Shadow turned and walked away. Cyclops got up to grab him, but his hands passed harmlessly through his shoulder and the strange man walked right through a wall and out again. Cyclops rubbed his hand as a great chill shot through it.  
"There was nothing he could do about it," Ebony assured Cyclops, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. Rebel exited just behind Shadow, chasing after him. "The power is innate. If it helps, he does feel bad about what happened."  
"It doesn't," Cyclops growled, pulling away from her to go over to Jean's side. He grabbed her hand and held it gently.  
Jean's voice inside his head was distant and weak.  
He replied mentally, hope springing inside of him.   
Her voice seemed to be growing weaker and further away.  
  
Beast turned to Ebony, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What exactly happened?"  
"I don't relay know," she replied.  
Druid spoke calmly from the chair where he lounged. "There is nothing so devastating as finding utter silence where a torrent of sound should pour. Especially if the silence follows you."  
Ebony shook her head. "I'm sorry. He always talks like that. We often struggle to get a strait answer from him."  
"Actually, I think I understand what he said." Beast rushed over to Cyclops. "Keep speaking to her using your psychic link. Try to keep her talking. I have an idea." Before Cyclops could respond, Beast had rushed off. "'Unnatural deeds do breed unnatural troubles... more needs she the divine then the physician' - Shakespeare. However, since we lack the divine, the mutant must suffice." Beast checked the read outs of the devices hooked to Jean. He grinned. "As I thought." He turned to the companions. "Scott and Jean's unique telepathic bond is strengthening Jean's mind. The longer they remain in contact, the easier it will become for Jean to throw off the 'silence' that attacked her mind." He checked his read outs again. "By my guess, Jean should be conscious shortly, though her full powers may not return for at most a day." He laid a comforting hand on Scott's shoulder. "She will be fine."  
Scott nodded, but remained concentrating on Jean. Jean was visibly getting better, but she still seemed to be in bad condition.  
"I think it best if we leave them now," Storm said softly. The others nodded and followed her to the rec room.  
  
"How is she?" Storm asked worriedly when Scott entered the rec room.  
"Better," he said grimly. "She'll be with us in a moment." He turned to Ebony. "And when she arrives, I expect some answers."  
"Of course," Ebony assured him.  
"This place is a maze," Rebel declared, entering the room. She shook her head. "I lost Shadow. Probably off sulking somewhere. You know how he is. He'll show up when he wants to."  
"I'm not sure I'm completely happy with that," Cyclops said suspiciously. "Wolverine, you go find him."  
"Can't," the gruff man replied shortly. The other X-Men turned to him curiously. "He ain't got no smell. Doesn't make a sound either, or leave tracks." Logan shook his head ruefully. "Doubt anyone could track that man unless he wants them to."  
"You'd be surprised how many people have tried." Though the voice was defiantly Shadow's, it lacked the hollow, hissing quality it normally had. He was standing in the doorway, his hood and cowl pulled down to reveal his face. His eyes, rather than the glowing red they were before, were normal and grey. His short black hair was neatly combed, and a slight stubble was forming on his face. He wasn't particularly handsome, but he had a rugged, outdoorsy look that some people find attractive. There seemed to be a great sadness and pain in his face, and no joy in him at all.  
"Where have you been?" Ebony demanded of him.  
"Around and about," he replied evasively. He sat down in a chair, stretching out languidly and drinking a bottle of beer he had appropriated from the kitchen. "This is some installation you have here. Quite impressive."  
"Thanks," Scott replied sarcastically.  
"I am pleased to say," Beast stated as he entered. "That both our patients have made a complete recovery." He stood aside to allow Jean and Berzerker to enter. Jean went strait to Scott, hugging him closely. Berzerker stomped over to Ebony.  
"So what," he said. "We're friends with these guys now?"  
Ebony nodded. "Just sit down and relax. Everything will make sense in a bit."  
Berzerker growled but did as he was told, throwing himself into the only empty chair. He eyed Wolverine suspiciously. Now that the battle was over and she had recovered, Jean realized that she was feeling highly attracted to this strange young man. She wondered why she felt so attracted to him, before she realised that all the other women in the room felt similarly. It was hard to miss with her telepathy, though she doubted anyone else would have noticed. It must be part of his mutant powers.  
"I think it time for the telling of tails to begin," Druid stated calmly from where he sat cross-legged on the floor by the open window. The cool winter air didn't seem to bother him the slightest.  
"Are these all of your people?" Ebony asked. "I wouldn't want to repeat the story needlessly."  
"No," Scott replied tersely. "But the others are all away on missions. They won't be back for a while. And we don't have time to wait."  
"Understandable. I think it best if we start with introductions. I am Captain Elena Valmont, also known as Ebony. These are my companions: James Holdenworth, or Shadow, Janet Walsh, also known as Rebel, Kyle Jorgenson, who is called Berzerker, and Druid." She pointed to each companion in turn. "We are, or rather were, called the Knights of Justice, or more simply, the Knights. We come from what I believe to be an alternate reality."  
Scott nodded, and when she did not continue he realised that she was expect him to introduce is companions. "My name is Scott Summers, or Cyclops. This is my wife, Jean, called Phoenix, and my friends doctor Henry McCoy, the Beast; Ororo Munro, Storm; and Logan, Wolverine. We are the X-Men."  
At this last proclamation Rebel sat bolt upright. Berzerker had already half-stood up when Cyclops had named Beast, and literally dropped back into his chair. Ebony's face betrayed her shock, and even Shadow raised an eyebrow. Only Druid didn't respond, his eyes closed as if in meditation and a slight smile creeping on his face.  
"I suppose, then," Ebony said after a moment. "That you know one Charles Xavier?"  
"Of course," Scott replied, looking a bit bemused. "He is our founder."  
  
"And he lives?"  
"Yes, of course. But if you're from an alternate reality, how do you know about him?"  
"Because it is Charles Xavier, and his friend Erick Lehnsherr, that are the difference between our two worlds." The X-Men all looked blank. "I think it best if I start at the beginning." Ebony shook her head. "Or rather, in this case, at the end.  
  
"You see, uncountable years in the future, two brothers, beings of immense powers, apparently the prime example of human evolution and the result of couplings of the highest genetic potential, ruled the world peacefully. However, after generations of ruler-ship, one of the brothers was, for some unknown reason, driven insane. He decided that the only way he could end his suffering was to commit temporal suicide.  
"You see, these brothers could travel through time and space at will. Therefore, he could never commit conventional suicide; instead he had to change the past so that he never was born, nor ever could be born. Unfortunately, this would destroy the utopian society he and his brother ruled, along with his brother.  
"Ignoring the consequences of his actions (or perhaps simply not caring about them, for his madness had twisted his mind into a strange form of evil), he set back in time. He arrived in Israel shortly after the meeting of two people that would become inordinately important in both our worlds: Charles Xavier and Erick Lehnsherr.  
"Using his powers, the being from the future captured both Charles and Erick, taking them to a palace he created in Australia. There, he contacted the leaders of the world, calling himself Lord Sumner, and revealed to them the presence of mutants, and the threat they would prove to the world's stability. Then, he slaughtered them both before the stunned eyes of the world leaders.  
"Using Australia and New Zealand, which he had conquered, as his base of operations, he created an army of robots and cyborgs using technology far in advance to any discovered even in our time. He used these robots to hunt down mutants everywhere, slaughtering them mercilessly.  
"At first people supported his actions. When the armies of mutants flocked under the banner of a powerful mutant called Apocalypse in Egypt, there was talk of the armies of the west joining Sumner in his war. But it didn't take long for the tales of atrocities to reach the shores of Europe and America. Sumner was taking unwilling humans and turning them into cyborgs forced to serve him. It didn't take long for people to realise that Sumner was not a man anyone wanted in power. Still, there was no question of aiding Apocalypse; he also had access to strange technology, and was using it to genetically engineer the mutants who served him to make a better fighting force, to 'cleanse the world of weakness.'  
"So the world was divided into three. South America and Africa belonged to Apocalypse. Australia and most of Asia belonged to Sumner. The Middle East and Central America were constant battlegrounds. Everything else was the 'free world,' united to defeat both Sumner and Apocalypse.  
"I was a captain in her Majesty's Army of Great Britain and the Empire. Not that we actually had an Empire left. Still, we were a force to be considered. Despite the small size of our island, we had the largest air force out side of the US, and the larges navy of all. Still, I was army. And I was in charge of one of the most important missions yet.  
"Apocalypse was on the defensive. The Americans had basically subdued South America and he was hiding out in a pyramid in Egypt. Lord Sumner's armies were closing in, and it looked like victory was certain. Then we got the intelligence - Lord Sumner and all his personal guards were leaving Australia so he could face Apocalypse personally. That was our chance.  
"I was one of many who were given the task of infiltrating Lord Sumner's castle, stealing what we could and destroying the rest. All over the world others were given similar tasks, designed to cripple Sumner's armies outside of Africa and prevent him from sending re-enforcements. That was the rest of the armies could swoop in after the big battle between him and Apocalypse and take out any of the survivors.  
"My team was made up of the best Britain had to offer. I was given the task because I had been in charge in a few of the critical defences of Britain, managing to hold off a couple of waves from both Sumner and Apocalypse at various times. I was working with a team from America, led by some hotshot young new captain Devon Blanch who had made a name for himself in the South Africa slaughter, where he and his men killed well over a hundred mutants. I didn't approve of his methods - he didn't differentiate between civilians and military, especially not where mutants were concerned - but you couldn't argue with results. There were similar teams from everywhere - Canada, France, Spain, Germany - all the free countries.  
"We made it in without too much trouble. Sumner hadn't been expecting an attack - we had been beaten fairly badly on the last couple of attempts - so defences were a bit weak. My team managed to make it the farthest. The Americans had made it in before us, but Blanch had decided to take a bit of time to kill the mutant captive's Sumner had and loot for technology. I was more interested in setting the charges and getting out of there.  
"We set the charges, and were about to escape when Lord Sumner appeared. Even after all this time we still didn't know everything he could do, so we didn't realise he was a mutant. Still, we should have guessed he would have something up his sleeve. We couldn't let him get to the charges, but we couldn't stop him and get out, so we did the only thing we could. We fought. And damn, he was good! He had powers I just cant describe. He could change reality itself to bend to his will. The things he threw at us! I never understood how we managed to keep him busy for those five minutes, but we did. And then everything exploded. All the charges set detonated, destroying the entire palace. The other teams got out fine, but mine was still stuck right next to those explosives, fighting Sumner himself.  
"The Dutch found me while they looking for survivors. Most everyone else had gone home. No one knew how I had survived the blast - I think some of them had assumed I had run - but they found me, gasping for breath and babbling about crystals in the middle of the detonation area. There wasn't a brick standing anywhere near me.  
"I knew how I survived though. My mutant power kicked in. When people persecuted mutants, I always felt sorry for them, but I didn't realise I was one until then. My body can release a liquid that solidifies into a hard, black crystal once it touches the air. Latter in life I learned how to control it so that I could create a suit of armour, rather than simply a coating. I also learned that I could create blade-like protrusions from my forearms, which I could use to slash at people or to even fire off.  
"Of course, there were other aspects to my mutant power which I had been using all my life without realising it. I always knew I was stronger, faster and more agile than everyone else, but I thought that that was just because I exercised a lot. I also can instantly tell when anyone is lying.  
"Still, that was latter. At the time I didn't even realise I had a mutant power. That was why, when the crystal coated me, there were no air holes. I could see, though everything was tinted a kind of blue-black, and everything I heard was muted, though I guess that was a boon at the time, for the explosion probably would have deafened me otherwise. The crystal also insulated me, preventing the heat from harming me, though the force of the blast knocked the breath from me and broke a fair few of my ribs. It only lasted for a brief moment, and was gone as quickly as it came, but it had been enough. I knew I was a mutant.  
"Considering the circumstances, I wasn't too upset about it. I thought that now that Sumner was dead and Apocalypse defeated mutants would be free. I guess I am a bit naïve at times.  
"Mutancy was declared illegal, except in Africa, where the remains of Apocalypse forces still held sway, and Australia and New Zealand, where the remnants of Lord Sumner's government ruled. The discovery that Lord Sumner had been a mutant didn't help things.  
"The governments of the free world set up two organisations to deal with 'the mutant threat.' The first was the public face; because of the atrocities of Lord Sumner's rule the government had to be careful and legal about how they handled mutants. This 'nicer' public face, called the Special Mutant Analysis and Response Team, or SMART, tracked mutant movements and arrested mutants, killing only when necessary. The second team was a secret one. Called the Hunters, they were sent out to kill mutants wherever they existed, without mercy. And I was offered their leadership.  
"Knowing that I was a mutant made the decision even more difficult. I knew plenty of ways that I could back out without casting suspicion on myself. However, I decided that I should accept the offer. There were two main reasons I decided to do this; the first was that I would be given complete control, so I could chose the targets. I was no fool; I knew there would be mutants who would use their powers to hurt others. I hoped to turn the resources of the Hunters against them. If questioned I would simply say that I was 'designating resources to deal with the most pertinent threat towards our stability' or something like that and I would be fine. The second reason was that if I didn't take control, they'd give it to Devon Blanch, and there was no way I was going to let that man be in charge of such a powerful operation. As it was, I had to accept him as my second in command.  
"Things didn't go too badly at first. I was protecting people, mutants and humans alike, from the mutants who wanted to use their powers for harm. I was also making inroads, however small, towards acceptance of mutants within our society. It all fell to peaces, though, when Blanch discovered I was a mutant.  
"We were hunting a particularly dangerous mutant who could cause intense heat, enough to melt steel, with a thought. He turned his powers on me, but I used my powers at the last minute to protect myself. There was no hiding it; the entire group had seen. Devon was the first to react. He attacked me, calling for everyone to help him. The group was split. I was good friends with some of them, and others respected me for both my military and political achievements. Most of them hated mutants, however.  
"There was a pitched battle, and in the end I was forced to run, though I managed to take Devon's favourite gun away from him, an energy weapon 'liberated' from Lord Sumner's palace. Devon and his old friend Robert South, another American who had been in the attack on Lord Sumner, were the only others who survived. Devon swore to hunt me down and kill me, along with every other mutant in the world.  
"My life as a fugitive had begun. I couldn't live with mutants, because I was known as a mutant hunter, but I couldn't stay with humans, as I was a known mutant. I couldn't hide who I was - I had been on TV about ten times too often during the celebrations after my victory in Australia. After all, I was heralded as an international hero.  
"I was hunted, of course, but I knew all the tricks the government agencies used, so they never got near me. That was when the Canadians let the secret out. For years they had been working on a project, code named the Weapon X project, in an attempt to create the perfect killer. They used technology stolen from both Apocalypse and Sumner to create these assassins. Only one of the mutants they used survived. He was a mutant named Logan, code-named Wild Man."  
  
Ebony stopped her story and stared at Wolverine, who had by now removed his mask. The gruff man shook his head sadly. "Yep, that's me," he answered her unspoken question. "They did it here too, only they didn't call me Wild Man. They laced my bones with adamantium and messed up my memories. What happened in your world?"  
"It was fairly similar." She paused. "They laced his, or rather, your bones with adamantium, but their attempts at memory alteration drove you completely insane. They had to insert a behaviour modification chip into your brain in order to keep you from killing everyone in sight. The controls were given to one of your team mates."  
"I gotta say, I never really thought of Wild Man having hair," Berzerker interrupted. Most of the X-Men and the Knights chuckled at Wolverine's startled look.  
"They shaved your head bald for the procedure," Rebel said, leaning forward. "And the chip in your brain somehow stopped it from growing back. They also tattooed a number onto your skull so you could be easily identified."  
Wolverine snorted in disbelief. "N759-K735-96L2," Druid stated calmly. Everyone looked at him a bit surprised. He shrugged; still not bothering to open his eyes, but didn't elaborate any further.  
"Any way," Ebony said, continuing her story. "Wild Man was a complete madman, a wild beast driven beyond the bounds of reason. Add that to the fact that the experiments resembled the ones conducted by Sumner and Apocalypse that had caused such outrage and the governments decided that they had to step carefully once again. They asked for volunteers to join the new Hunters, a select few who would undergo similar 're-designing' so they could more effectively hunt mutants. Devon was the first to volunteer. They enhanced his body with cybernetic implants that increased his strength and agility and also could absorb energy and pump it into his body, making him stronger. They enhanced his senses, giving him the ability to sense mutants with a highly sophisticated psychic radar plugged directly into his brain which allowed him to sense the powers of any mutants he could see. Finally, they tooled him up with some high-tech weapons stolen from Sumner. Taking the name Hunter, he was the group's leader.  
"Robert South also underwent the process. He became Drake; his skin was replaced with a layer of metallic 'scales' designed to ward off most attacks, especially fire. A miniature device much like a flame-thrower was inserted into the roof of his mouth, allowing him to breath fire, and he had cybernetic implants to increase his strength and endurance.  
"The other volunteers had similar stories. Thug, or Cory Thane as he was christened, was given a mixture of cybernetic implants and advance steroids, as well as genetic engineering, to become inhumanly strong and tough. Unfortunately for the German body-builder, his mind was put under pressure by the drugs and his intelligence all but disappeared, turning him into a simpleton.  
"Hunter was obsessed, Drake a bit on the strange side after the process, having a tendency to think of himself as an actual half-dragon, Thug an idiot and Wild Man insane, so they needed someone really smart. I don't know where they found the man who called himself Prime Suspect; I never could find out much about him. "Apparently he had been badly hurt when a kid, and was surviving on hospital beds most of the time. Still, he was conscious and a real genius. They had to replace his arms and legs, half his chest and most of his face, including his eyes, with robotic parts. They managed to enhance his already considerable intelligence with cybernetics and stuck a bunch of weapons in his robotic parts, including powerful energy guns in his hands. They also put the controls to Wild Man's behavioural control chip in his arm. Hunter may have been their leader, but Prime Suspect was the most dangerous of them.  
"Still, I managed to avoid them for a while. It got so desperate that the governments started hiring out assassins to kill me. The mercenary trade had grown since Sumner's fall, now that Asia had descended into uncountable warring states, and there were plenty to choose from. Still, there was one who was head and shoulders above the rest - a man who called himself Death.  
"The first I knew about him was when he attacked. A globe of pure darkness surrounded me without warning. I surrounded myself in my armour as an automatic defence, and I guess I was lucky that my reactions were so good, for the next thing I knew was a dagger piercing through my side. It cut through my armour as if it wasn't even there, but I managed to dodge away enough so the blow missed any vital organs. Still, it was deep and oddly cold, and I gasped in pain. I swung wildly as I fell back, but I didn't connect with anything. Another slash across my chest, and I stumbled and fell, crashing to the floor, blood seeping from me freely.  
"I guess I was lucky that my attacker had a flair for the dramatic. The darkness disappeared, and there he was standing before me; decked out in all black, with a cowl covering his face, a pair of piercing red eyes glared at me from beneath his hood.  
"'Who are you?' I managed to whisper as he raised his blade above his head for the killing blow.  
"His reply was dark, and seemed to reverberate as if from a different world. It sent shivers of fear up my spine. 'I am DEATH!'  
"That little pause was all I needed. Whipping my arm around, I shot a hail of shards at him. The shards passed harmlessly through him, as though he wasn't there, but one of them hit his blade and sent it spinning from his hand. He growled in shock, reaching forward for me, his hands aiming at my throat.  
"I brought up my foot to kick him in the chin, but my boot passed right through his head, and my foot went numb with cold. I tried to twist away, but he sunk his hands through my chest. I felt his fist close around my heart, the dark cold pain threatening to drown me in unconsciousness.  
"I felt at my side, and pulled forth the small energy gun stolen from Devon. I blasted Death, and, to my surprise, the force of the bolt not only ripped through him, spilling his blood on me, but hurled him away to slam into the far wall.  
"Then I saw something that, no matter how often I see it, never ceases to awe me. He reached out with his right hand and seemed to grab the wall. His body passed through it and he spun inside the wall, only his knuckles showing, then swung back out, landing gracefully on his feet, his left hand clutched over his wound.  
"I stood up shakily, struggling for breath. Death grabbed his dagger from the floor, holding it out in front of him. With the energy gun pointed strait at him, I knew we were at an impasse. If he did anything, I would shoot him, maybe even killing him, but if I shot and he dodged out of the way, I knew I stood a snowballs chance in hell.  
"So we faced each other for a moment, until a ghostly chuckle escaped the figure. 'You fight well.'  
"'Then why are you laughing?'  
"'I think that we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.'  
"'What, you promise not to try and kill me in my sleep and I promise not to blast your head in where you stand? Doesn't sound like a good deal to me.' I was bluffing, though, and I think he knew it. My arms were shaking and I was getting weak from the loss of blood. I don't think I could have stopped him from killing me with a feather pillow at the time.  
"'I was thinking of the two of us working together.'  
"I snorted in disbelief, but after a moment I realised he was serious. 'How do I know this isn't a trick?'  
"He pulled down his hood and cowl, revealing a fairly normal, if slightly unkempt, face. 'I'm in no mood for tricks,' he said dryly, holding out his hand for proof. His voice was now normal, though there was the hint of the darkness behind it, like an echo. He carefully cleaned off his blade then sheathed it.  
"Still nervous I holstered my gun, being careful to place it where I could draw it quickly. 'Just who are you?' I asked again.  
"'Just a man with a gift,' he replied evasively.  
"'A mutant?' I asked, realising it would explain his strange powers.  
"'Nothing so simple. My powers come from an outside source. It's that which I think you can help me with.'  
"'Wait a minute,' I said, remembering a conversation I had with a mercenary back in my army days. 'Aren't you morally obligated to kill me if you have accepted a contract?'  
"He actually laughed, though it was a short, cruel laugh. 'I have no morals,' he answered. 'Besides, I happen to know my employer will never pay me.'  
"'How?'  
"'He died last week.'  
"I rocked back in shock. 'Then why are you still trying to kill me?' "He shrugged, and didn't reply. His face was an unreadable mask, but I felt there was a lot he wasn't telling me. Eventually I gave in. 'All right, what deal do you want to make?'  
"'My. boss is coming to town soon. I want to escape from him, but it will be difficult. You see, he comes from the same place my power,' here he tapped the hilt of his dagger meaningfully, 'and is quite a tough customer. That gun of yours should be more than able to handle him, though, in the right hands.'  
"'I'm assuming you want me to sell you the gun, then. I must assure you, I don't think you can pay me enough.'  
"'I thought you would feel that way. So I plan to offer you this: you fight with me against my boss and I help you with your quest.'  
"'Quest? What quest?'  
"'You're on the run from just about every government in the world, you fight like a demon (and believe me, I've fought a few), and you are, or rather were, considered an international war hero. You probably have some task, weather you call it a quest, a mission or merely a goal.  
"I thought about this for a moment. 'I guess I do.' I shook my head. 'So how do I know I can trust you?'  
"'You don't,' he grinned mirthlessly. 'But I promise I wont kill you without proper warning.' He was telling the truth, that much I knew, but that still didn't fill me with confidence.  
"I thought about it. I thought long and hard. But eventually it seemed to me that there was only one option available. 'Deal.' I stuck out my hand, and he grasped it firmly, shaking it. 'Now, what do I call you?'  
"'Death,' he replied simply.  
"'Hardly the name of someone working for world peace and the freedom of mutants.' He stared at me in disbelief, realising, I think, what he had gotten himself into. 'A bit to dark.'  
"He snorted. 'I can hardly go around calling myself Sunshine or Hope.'  
"'I agree, but you don't want anything to dark either.' I grinned at him. 'Despite what you may want me to believe, I get the opinion that you aren't as dark as you want people to think you are.'  
"He looked for a moment like he might argue, but instead just chuckled. 'But I'm not particularly light either.'  
"'Right. Your somewhere in between.'  
"'I'm shadow.' He paused then grinned. 'I'm Shadow.' He turned to me. 'Now what do I call you?'  
"'Captain.'  
"'No chance. Try again.'  
"I thought, then I remembered a nick-name my friends had given me in the army. 'Ebony.' My new ally nodded. 'Now lets talk about this "boss" of yours.'  
  
The X-Men glanced at Shadow as though for confirmation of what Ebony had said. He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. "It's close enough to the truth."  
"Don't tell me that you became friends after he tried to kill you," Scott demanded.  
"What, you mean you've never befriended an enemy before?" Ebony asked him.  
Cyclops paused, and thought. He thought about Rogue, and Magneto, and . "Well, yes," he admitted grudgingly.  
"But never quite so swiftly," Beast added.  
"Well, I guess our world is just faster paced than yours," Rebel interjected, obviously anxious to get on with the tale.  
Ebony smiled slightly. "I helped Shadow fight his 'boss,' a dragon- like creature from another dimension." She paused slightly, as though waiting for Shadow to chime in, but he remained silent. "What was really going on I still don't know, though I'm sure there's more than he's telling me." She looked pointedly at Shadow, but he ignored her.  
"Anyway," she continued. "After a while I learned that he was James Holdenworth, an Archaeology student from New England who came across his powers by accident, though he wont tell me the full story. We worked together for a while, avoiding the Hunters and helping mutants whenever we could. Shadow was a bit dangerous at first, but after a while he calmed down and stopped killing everyone. Still, we had to kill far more often than I would have liked, but that's war for you.  
"Not long after Druid approached us, offering his services. I know less about him than I do about Shadow, but I sometimes get the opinion that he knows about as much of his past as I do. Shadow, on the other hand, seems to delight in keeping secrets. We found Rebel in Australia, living with a band of bikers and hunting down her parents' killer. We helped her with that, and she agreed to join us. Eventually we found Berzerker, who was working as a singer in LA when the Hunter's uncovered him as a mutant. At first we thought we would have to rescue him, but in the end we had to stop him.  
"I don't know when the newspapers found out about us, or how, but soon the articles were being printed about a 'strange vigilante group fighting for the common man and mutant rights' which they dubbed the Knights of Justice. Soon everywhere you went you heard stories about the Knights, and things they had done. I'll tell you honestly, if we had done half the things that we were have supposed to I would have retired and bought my own island.  
"So we survived, running from the authorities and dodging both mutants and humans who wanted us dead. We didn't necessarily make the world a better place, but we tried, and that's what counts. It didn't take long for us to figure out a pattern, though. The 'villains' only showed up when we were around, or near enough so we could catch up with them before they did any serious damage. It was as though someone was behind it all, controlling everything.  
"We got a lead on this mysterious figure eventually, and spent several months chasing him down, facing just about everything possible that was thrown in front of us. When we met him, though, rather than the showdown we expected, we got given a chance to make a real difference.  
"At first I thought we were facing Lord Sumner. He certainly looked very similar. But he called himself the Traveller, and he claimed to be Lord Sumner's brother. That's when he explained everything too us; about the future, about temporal suicide, and, most importantly, about Charles Xavier and the X-Men."  
Ebony turned to the X-Men, a bit of wonder in her eyes. "You see, it was, or rather, will be, your actions that led, will lead." she paused, struggling with the tenses of time-travel.  
"Because of you," Shadow broke in. "A utopian society will eventually come into existence. When Xavier died before founding the X- Men, all of that disappeared. So as long as our world existed, his couldn't."  
"Exactly," Ebony agreed. "The Traveller showed us an image of what the world would be with Xavier, and what our world would become in a few generations without him. He then gave us a choice: go back in time and rescue Xavier and Magnus, or go on in the world as it was."  
"It seems like a simple choice," Jean said.  
"Things are never simple." Ebony sighed. "There was a catch. None of us would exist in your world. We never would have been born. So in order to save the world, we had to commit temporal suicide."  
"A difficult decision to make," Beast stated.  
"Well, you can guess the answer," Rebel drawled.  
"We went back, and fought Sumner. We never would have succeeded, though, if Xavier and Magnus hadn't helped us. I guess you owe this whole world to them."  
Wolverine snorted. "Fancy Magneto savin' the world."  
Ebony looked a bit confused, but continued. "The Traveller explained everything to Xavier and Magnus, even telling them things he hadn't told us. Like the fact that he and his brother are direct decedents of members of the X-Men."  
"But if Charles knew of this," Storm said. "Why had he never told us?"  
"The Traveller swore them to secrecy. I don't know why, but I'm sure he had a good reason."  
"And so that's when we found you," Cyclops surmised. "Fresh out of your battle with Lord Sumner, and fully expecting to be dead."  
"To never have existed," Druid corrected.  
"Add to that that Berzerker obviously recognised Wolverine as Wild Man," Beast stated. "And it is no wonder your greeting was less than cordial."  
"Well, all we saw was Kyle suspended in mid-air and you threatening him," Rebel replied, glaring and Wolverine.  
"He did attack us, actually," Jean pointed out.  
"He's rash like that," Ebony said, casting a dark look at Kyle, who shrugged.  
Cyclops got up and began pacing around. "So you suddenly find yourself in our world? What do you do now?"  
"From what the Traveller told us, this world is infinitely better than our own, but it is still not perfect. Mutants are still feared and hated by non-mutants. Some mutants seek to use their powers for their own gain. The Traveller told us of your mission, to rid the world of injustice and make it safe for mutants and humans both." She paused. "I guess that, if my friends agree, we'd like to help you." She looked at her companions. Druid and Rebel nodded and Berzerker grinned and gave her the thumbs up. Only Shadow looked dubious.  
The X-Men studied them for a moment. After a short pause, Cyclops nodded. "We'd welcome the help." Ebony stood and took his hand, shaking it fiercely. Druid smiled broadly, stood, and bowed to the X-Men. Rebel and Berzerker both grinned rather inanely, laughing and slapping each other and the X-Men on the back. Still Shadow sat still, his brow creased in worry.  
"What's wrong, Shad?" Rebel asked him.  
"I'm not so sure of this," he said. "The utopian society we heard of existed without us. How do we know that what we do here won't ruin it?"  
"We don't," Druid replied after a short silence. "But we never know what effect our actions will have on the future. We must act in the present, doing what we think is the best."  
"Besides," Rebel said, punching Shadow playfully. "The Traveller's looking out for the future. If something goes wrong, he'll get us to fix it. Again."  
Shadow shook his head. "Very well, then. I seem to be out numbered. We shall fight along side you, though it may prove to be a mistake." He turned to the X-Men and stared at each in turn. "And you may well regret the day you decided to call us friends." With that grim proclamation he stood and stiffly bowed. "But until that time, my blade is at your service."  
Wolverine chortled and slapped the grim man on the back. "Lighten up, bub. The Knights o' Justice and the X-Men are workin' together now, and ain't nothin' gonna stop us."  
"No," Ebony said. "The Knights of Justice died when their world died. I think its time for a change." She smiled rather slyly and glanced at everyone else. "Now is the time of the X-Knights." 


	2. New Friends and Old Foes

A/N: Well, here it is. Chapter two. It explains a bit more about who the rest of the X-Knights are, and also introduces some of their old baddies. Once again, I apologise for any inconsistencies with the Marvel timeline. Enjoy!  
  
And thanks, Ravenclaw2, for the good review.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel characters nor am I making any money off of this. And so on, and so on.  
  
"I don't mean to interrupt," Beast said. "But I just remembered something that may be rather important."  
"What?" Cyclops asked.  
"Well, the reason that we went to Canada in the first place was to investigate the strange temporal disturbance there." The others looked at him expectantly. "There were two others."  
"What?" The X-Knights leapt from their chairs, even Druid. "Where?"  
At a nod from Cyclops, the X-Men led their new allies into the War Room. The X-Knights stopped and marvelled at the impressive display of technology around them. Though they had fought many scientific geniuses in their time, their own resources were very limited; they often were reduced to stealing food to survive, and didn't know from day to day if they would be sleeping in a bed or in the gutter. The sheer resources the X-Men had surprised them.  
Beast walked over to a computer. "There was one disturbance about the same size as the one that led to you in the Amazon rainforest, and a smaller on an Island in the pacific."  
"Bishop, Rogue, Gambit, and Iceman are investigating the larger disturbance. Angle and Psylocke were vacationing on a near-by island, so we sent them to investigate," Cyclops said.  
"With much complaining from them," Jean added wryly  
"Can you think of anyone from your world that might have been sent here as well as yourselves?" Beast asked.  
"No one we like," Rebel answered.  
"Can you contact your people?" Ebony asked Cyclops.  
"Yes," he replied. He tapped on his communication badge. "Angle, this is Cyclops."  
"Hello?" the reply came back, crackling with static.  
"Report."  
"We found someone on the island after the disturbance, but other than that it was empty."  
"What does he look like?" Ebony asked worriedly.  
"Who is that?"  
"A new friend," Cyclops said. "I'll explain latter. Just answer her question."  
"He looks kind of pale, and he's dressed in tattered black robes. Looks a bit like a corpse."  
"The Necromancer," Ebony sighed in despair. Rebel clenched her fists and growled, a low, primal sound of rage and hate. Shadow hissed, then nodded at Ebony.  
"Tell your people not to engage," she commanded Cyclops. "And whatever happens, they can't let him touch them. Shadow will go to help them."  
"What happens if he touches them?" Storm asked curiously.  
"They die."  
"Warren," Cyclops barked at the communicator. "Did you get that?"  
"Yes, but I think that we can."  
"No. Keep your distance until help arrives."  
Rebel stood forward, he hands still clenched in a fist. "I'm going too."  
Ebony stared at the young woman's hate-filled face, then nodded. "All right," she agreed. She grabbed Rebel by the shoulder and held her gaze. "Don't do anything stupid."  
"Got it."  
"Wolverine and Storm will go with you," Cyclops said as he motioned to the two mutants. "They'll help you." Shadow looked as though he were about to say that he didn't need any help, but a sharp glance from Ebony silenced him. "Take the flyer, and hurry." The four nodded and left, the X-Men leading the way to the hanger. Cyclops typed again on his communicator. "Bishop, come in." Static and silence answered his call. "Bishop! This is Cyclops. Respond." He paused. "Bishop! Rogue! Anyone!" Still nothing. He turned, a worried look on his face, to his companions. "Beast, find out the location of their flyer. I'll prep the Blackbird." "At once," Beast replied, hopping over to one of the computers. Ebony, Druid and Berzerker followed Jean and Scott to the Blackbird.  
  
"So just who is this Necromancer?" Wolverine asked as the flyer sped off towards the west. Rebel was sitting with Storm at the front of the jet, both silent. "An old enemy," Shadow replied solemnly, toying with his dagger. "How old?" Shadow realised that he wouldn't be able to put the gruff little man off. Besides, the more he knew about the Necromancer, the more willing he'd be to avoid a direct confrontation. Or so Shadow hoped. "He was the mutant that killed Rebel's parents," Shadow said after a moment. "I thought Ebony said ye had killed 'im." "We did. Or rather I did." "Ye did a good job, then." Shadow glared at the grinning X-Man. "So how come you killed him, and not anyone else? They always let ye do the dirty work?" "We don't always work together. I had been sent to Australia to hunt the Necromancer while Druid and Ebony worked to try and find the Hunters' base of operations. I met Rebel there. She had travelled from Spain to Australia on her own as a young girl to hunt down her parents' killer. She didn't know who he was, though, only that they had died in Australia. So when she got there she was a bit lost. She was taken in by a group of mutant bikers, a kind of outlaw band fighting against the local government in their own, small way. Her powers were just emerging, and they began to teach her how to use them. "I found her weeping over the body of one of her friends. It seems that they had found out who had killed her parents, and decided to take care of him for her while she was away. Some kind of birthday present I think. The got massacred. The strange thing was only one body was left behind. "I knew what the Necromancer was capable of, so I wouldn't let Rebel go after him. He was one of the most powerful mutants - one of the most powerful creatures - I've ever met. He could kill someone just by looking at them. He could also animate dead bodies, give them some semblance of life, so that they would fight for him." "What," Wolverine snorted. "Ye mean he made zombies?" "Exactly. Zombies, or skeletons if they were old enough. The walking dead. And he had plenty of corpses. But there was nothing he could do against me. The zombies couldn't touch me if I didn't let them, and his powers were useless against me; I'm immune to all life-draining attacks. So, after I had gotten Rebel to swear she wouldn't try to follow me, I set off to kill the Necromancer. "But that damn Aussie was clever. More clever than I gave him credit. He circled back on me, caught up with the girl and held her captive. He planned to use her as a hostage. "Luckily for the world, I'm a cold hearted bastard. I told him to kill the girl. She didn't matter to me. I attacked him. Rebel knew what was going on, though, and she was far from helpless. She managed to pull away from him just enough to distract him, stabbing him in the leg with one of her discs, and I attacked. "It still wasn't easy. He could fight, and he was stronger than I expected. Rebel had to fight off the dead bodies of her old friends, but she managed to hold her own until I could finish off the Necromancer. When he fell, the rest of the bodies did as well. "At Rebel's insistence, we gave them a proper burial, but we left the Necromancer to the crows. I was all for leaving Rebel on her own, but the girl insisted on coming with me, and I guess I felt a bit sorry for her. We did a bit of work in the Asian petty kingdoms together before we met up with the others. By then Ebony and Druid had rescued Berzerker, and so we were finally complete." Wolverine puffed at his cigar in the silence. He stared at where Rebel and Storm were now in a quiet discussion. "The girl cares greatly for ye," he said after a moment. "I suppose. I did avenger her parents' death and teach her to gain full control over her powers. I also taught her to fight." Shadow grinned a rare, broad grin. "You should see that girl use a katana. I never understood why she didn't keep one." "And do ye care fer her?" Shadow shot a quick glance at Wolverine, guessing his meaning. He thought about this briefly. "I care for her as much as a father cares for a daughter," he answered carefully after a moment. "I've met some pretty nasty fathers." "I can be pretty nasty at times." "But I bet all she has to do is give ye an innocent little doe-eyed look and yer all lost." Shadow chuckled dryly. "I see you have some experience with this kind of thing." "Bah."  
  
Storm looked carefully at the young woman who was sitting so quietly beside her. The Spanish woman had a look of great anger and pain on her face, one that, try as she might, she could not hide. Storm guessed that the Necromancer had hurt her or someone close to her greatly in the past. Still, she was not one to pry. After a few more minutes with only the hushed conversation of the men and the slow humming of the engine, Rebel broke the silence. "What's it like, being an X-Man?" Storm puzzled over the question. "Why do you ask?" Rebel smiled slightly. "When the Traveller told us about the X-Men, he was obviously awed by all of you. Lord Sumner either hated or feared you, or both. And the only difference between this world and ours is Xavier and his dream. You've done so much good in this world." She waved a hand at the scenery that passed far below the jet. "If you flew across our America, even at this height, the scars of war are evident. Abandoned villages, massive airfields, huge factories left derelict that once produced the tanks, planes and guns we used to fight. There are no camps of refugees, no armies of self-appointed 'mutant police.' It all looks so peaceful." "Looks are often misleading." "Maybe." "Is that why your leader took the new name X-Knights? Because you have heard that we made a world that seems better than yours?" "Maybe, but I don't think so. The Traveller told us that Xavier's dream was to have mutants and humans living in peace, to stop prejudice against mutants. Ebony would love to have that as her goal, but she never could. We were simply trying to survive, and help others to do the same. In our world, it's illegal to be a mutant. Hell, in England it's the only hanging offence besides treason, and there wasn't a state that wouldn't kill you for it. We understand that in your world if someone killed a mutant they would probably get away with it. But if someone did that in our world, they'd be given a medal and paraded around the streets. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Ebony, all of us, have the same dream as you, and the name was Ebony's way of showing that." "I think I understand," Storm replied. "But what about Shadow? He doesn't strike me as one to fight for freedom and justice for mutants, especially as he's not a mutant himself. Does he still only aid out of his debt to Ebony?" "I don't think so. He's repaid that enough times over." She smiled affectionately. "Shadow's not as cold and heartless as he'd like everyone to think. I've caught him talking to himself from time to time, when he thinks he's alone, and he's actually very poetic." Her smile widened. "He'd kill me for saying this, but I think he's a bit of a romantic." "You are fond of him, aren't you?" "He taught me how to fight, how to defend myself. And he's always supported me. There are times when I want to do things that Ebony. disagrees with. She's so worried about image and appearing untouchably noble so that we can gain 'the people's' support. Whenever she forbids me to do something, Shadow will help me out from under her eye and we'll go off together on our own little missions. If Ebony knew half the things we've done she'd string us both alive." "And he takes care of you, doesn't he?" It was more a statement than a question. Rebel made a face more suited to a younger girl. "Yes. It's ridiculous. He doesn't seem to think I can take care of myself. I've been doing this for a few years now, and I'm almost as good at it as he is." Storm laughed at the young woman's irritation. Though at times she seemed as adult as her companions, there was still a youth about her that was infectious. "There was one time, shortly after I joined the group, that I snuck away to go hang out at a biker bar. Well, some of the guys there got to bragging and getting rough with me, until I had to fight. I was doing just fine, but when the battle was over I noticed that there was a guy in the corner with a gun whose throat had been slit." Storm raised her eyebrows in shock. Rebel noticed the look. "The guy was going to kill me. Its perfectly reasonable." Rebel made another face. "But I could have taken him. After all, nothing surprises me." "Really?" "Yup. Part of my mutant power. Precognition. I can see into the future briefly, usually only a couple of seconds. It kicks in when someone tries to sneak up on me or fight me. I get to see what my opponent is going to do before they do it." "How useful." "Extremely. I'm fast enough to avoid most things, so I don't actually get hurt much in combat. And, I can also change my attack so my opponent doesn't dodge it. Oh, it's got its limits. It doesn't always work if the attack is fast enough." The young woman snorted. "And Shadow doesn't trigger it, damn him. He's the only person who can surprise me." "He has a great many powers it seems." "That he does." There was a slight pause. "But what about you? I mean, Druid said that your powers were from nature, and he's never wrong about these things." "I can control the weather." "Cool. That must be useful on vacation." Storm chuckled. "Unfortunately I am often forced to use it on more dangerous occasions." "Oh, I don't know. People get quite angry when their vacations are interrupted by bad weather." Storm glanced at the sweet young woman, who managed to hold her earnest expression for a whole three seconds before bursting into gales of laughter. Storm smiled, feeling that the X-Knights would prove more interesting allies than any of them had first guessed.  
  
"Doctor McCoy?" "Yes?" Beast replied, as he turned to face Berzerker. The young man held out his hand. "I believe I owe you my life." The startled Beast shook the proffered hand. "I assume you are referring to my incarnation in your time?" "You got it." "Well, I must say, I would be most intrigued to hear about myself from this other world." Berzerker looked out as the land stretched bellow them. "Sure, why not." The young man was fidgeting as though he was filled with nervous energy. "Well, the first thing I ever remember seeing is your face." The Nordic teen chuckled. "Of course, it wasn't quite so furry, or blue at all. You see, you were my doctor. Or rather my last doctor, in a long line of doctors." "When I was born, I was unhealthy. In fact, I only survived by being plugged into the gods know what machines and having some serious chemical pumped into me. It seems my body was missing various vital chemicals, but the doctors just couldn't figure it out. I was moved from expert to expert, my whole family moving to the states when I was still young so I could receive the best medicine had to offer. "I think it was when I was about ten or twelve when I was sent to you in LA. No one knew you were a mutant. Hell, I didn't know until old one-eye up there," he jerked his thumbs towards Cyclops, "introduced you and I made the connection. I never would've guessed, either. I guess that's what happens when mutants are killed on sight." "Am I to assume that I cured your malady?" "No. It cured itself. But you did take credit for it." "That hardly seems honest of me." "Ah, well, it wasn't. But it saved my life. My mutant power kicked in when I was under your care. My body started pumping out a powerful chemical that gave me the energy that I was lacking. You explained it all to me some years latter. Lets see, what was it now? Oh yea, that's it. My body lacked the energy to pump blood around my body, as well as lacking certain stimulants. Overall, that meant I was about as active as a sack of potatoes. After my mutant power activated, everything changed.  
"It was my mutant powers that saved me. But I would have been killed if anyone thought I was a mutant. You claimed you had cured me so that no one would know I was a mutant. You never even told me. It wasn't until after I joined with the Knights that I came back and you admitted to me you knew. You told me how my powers worked, too. "I wrote the details down, it was all in fancy jargon, and Ebony could probably recite it for you, but I basically know how it works. This new chemical that replaces my missing adrenaline (among other things) keeps me active. It gives me a level of energy that most people only get after a bucket of coffee. I can increase it at will, but the more I pump through me the hotter I get. However, the more I pump the stronger I get, and the more resistant to pain. My powers actually react to pain; if you hammered a nail into my hand it wouldn't hurt me one bit. Unfortunately, at a certain level it overloads my brain or something and I go berserk. You saw it back up in Canada. I start frothing at the mouth and basically lose control." "Intriguing," Beast said, struggling to keep up with Kyle's fast-paced, loose method of speech. "Was it that that allowed you to survive the drop to such a low pulse caused by Shadow earlier?" "What? Oh, that. No, Shadow didn't do that. That's a side affect of my powers. All he did was slow me down to normal. See, I've got a huge weakness. My body can only produce a certain amount of the chemical, but I can kinda 'borrow' more, if you see what I mean. After that my body basically shuts down until it starts building up again. If it's not to bad I just sit there humming to myself. Nothing can reach me then. I've been hit with a truck and not even noticed. If it's too bad, like after I go berserk, I fall back to how I was before my power. That's why my pulse was too low. Luckily my body's built to withstand that for long enough that I wont die. Or, I haven't yet. I still don't know how much I can push myself." "An interesting power," Beast admitted. "Oh, there's more. My, um, 'bio-physical chemistry,' or some similar rubbish, is unique. It makes me immune to plenty of things; addictions, drugs, poisons, diseases. Anything that messes around with your chemistry gets hammered by my powers." He grinned evilly. "I've been hit by enough tranquilliser darts to stop a herd of elephants and not even slowed, I've given up smoking in less then a minute, swallowed a whole jar of cyanide without breaking a sweat and I've never caught so much as a cold in my life. Of course, then there's the pher. phere. phero.." "Pheromones?" Beast guessed. "That's the one. My body produces powerful pheromones that drives most women wild with desire." He winks slyly. "It sure helps when looking for a date." "You use your powers to seduce women?" Beast accused darkly. "Hey, it's not like that." The X-Knight looked a bit hurt. "I don't break hearts or anything; I always make sure they know it's just for fun. After all, I should be in university right now. I'm just looking for a good time. I've never slept with another man's wife, and I've never, never made a women do what she doesn't want to do." "But does your power not insure that they want to do whatever you wish?" "No. I was taught the difference real early. Before I realised I was a mutant, when I was still in school, all the girls would go weak as soon as they looked at me. All but one, that is. She was the hottest, smartest, coolest girl I have ever met. And she wanted nothing to do with me. Eventually I broke down and asked her why she didn't like me. After all, I had to be attractive if everyone else wanted me. "She told me that she was attracted to me. Very much so. But she found me an arrogant, selfish lout and didn't want anything to do with me. See, my power makes women lust after me, but it doesn't change their feelings towards me. Any woman will desire to sleep with me, but not all of them will want to. See?" "I think I do," Beast replied dubiously. He wondered about this young hero. Something in him guessed that he was helping the others more to have something to occupy his apparently endless supply of energy rather than any sense of duty. All ready Berzerker was pacing up and down the ship, casting sly glances at Jean whenever he caught her looking at him. Beast would defiantly have to inform his friends of this. This young man's passions for life and pleasure could prove to be a problem. Henry McCoy shook his head sadly. "'Fie on sinful fantasy! Fie on lust and luxury! Lust is but a bloody fie, Kindled with unchaste desire,'" he said softly to himself. "Shakespeare."  
  
Scott was deep in conversation with Ebony, discussing the possibilities of any threats from her world they might face, and Beast and Berzerker were likewise talking, leaving Jean with only the enigmatic Druid to speak to. "Druid," she said after a moment. The robed man turned an impassive face to her. "Why are you working with Ebony?" Druid raised his eyebrows slightly, but remained silent. "I understand why Rebel and Berzerker are helping Ebony, and I think I can guess at Shadow's reasons, but you I just don't understand." "Why don't you just take a look and see?" "I tried," the woman known as Phoenix admitted. "But your mind is full of chaos." She shook her head in wonder. "You mind is as full as Shadow's is empty. I'm surprised you can think." "A draw back to my power, yes. But I survive." "What is it?" Druid scratched his beard thoughtfully. "The noise? It is just that - noise; Sound without meaning, thought without cause, feelings without reason." "I don't think I understand." Druid just smiled. "Don't think you're supposed to." Jean turned to see Berzerker standing just behind her. "Ol' Druid enjoys making people guess." He winked at Jean. "Try getting him to order diner at a restaurant. He really pulls out all the stops then." The tall teen chuckled. "I swear some waitress quit 'cause of him." "We're here," Ebony said, walking from the front. "Get ready."  
  
They found the flyer crashed amongst the trees in the rainforest. As the team stepped out of the Blackbird, Druid closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Such heaven," he said, his voiced quiet with reverence. Ebony was also awe-struck by the scene around them, gazing wondrously into the surroundings, though she took the time to cover herself in her armour to protect herself from the swarms of bugs around her. Berzerker noticed the puzzled looks of the X-Men as they studded his companions. "There's nothing like this back home," he replied in answer to their unasked question. "There's no rainforests?" Jean asked, shocked. "Nope. Destroyed during the war. Don't remember why, or by who. Probably all three sides over a certain amount of time." He shrugged. "Not much survived that time, I guess." "Cyclops?" A voice came from the undergrowth near by. A tall man with an M tattooed over one eye and a wealth of weapons walked forward. "Bishop," Cyclops replied. "Where are the others?" "Back here," he turned and led them to a large ice-igloo, slowly melting in the warm air. "The others were bothered by the insects." The insects all buzzed in unison suddenly, then zipped off into the distance. "Strange." "Your welcome," Druid replied, bowing slightly. The others were exiting the igloo by now. They stared at the three X- Knights. "Who are they?" Iceman asked. "Our new friends," Cyclops answered. "They call themselves the X-Knights. This is Berzerker, Druid, and Ebony, their leader." Cyclops turned to Ebony. "This is Bishop, Rogue, Gambit and Iceman." The X-Men nodded to the X-Knights. "Mon chere," Gambit said, taking Ebony's hand and kissing it. Ebony rolled her eyes and chuckled wryly. Beast noticed the look Rogue was giving Berzerker, and his returning gaze. For a moment Beast had an image of Berzerker kissing the southern belle, and it struck him as a certain amount of poetic justice. Still, it might kill the teen, and that was a bit harsh. He turned to Jean. "I'd like to have a word with you and Rogue for a moment." Jean and Rogue nodded, both a bit puzzled. He looked to Ebony. "I would also appreciate it if you joined us." "Of course," Ebony replied replied, a bit concerned. Berzerker guessed at Beasts plan, and shot him a dark look. "Traitor," he mouthed. Beast could only shrug in reply. "I am afraid that the device Beast gave us was damaged in the crash," Bishop continued Beast and the ladies walked off. "So we were unable to track the disturbance." "What caused the crash?" Cyclops asked, staring at the charred husk that was once a flyer. "I don't know. We approached the area and suddenly all the systems cut out." "I have found them," Druid interrupted, snapping his eyes open. The others looked blankly at him. "I believe that it was the Hunters who arrived near here, and I know where they are." "The Hunters?" Bobby asked. "More 'new friends'?" "Only if you like people who want to kill you," Berzerker replied, cracking his knuckles. Cyclops mentally asked Phoenix as she returned with the others. I she replied, looking darkly at Berzerker. Rogue, pointedly ignoring the blond teen, walked over the Gambit and wrapped her arm around his. The surprised Cajun smiled. "What is dis?" "Shut up, swamp rat," she replied. Gambit chuckled. Ebony walked up to Berzerker, who was staring at the ground and shuffling his feet. She raised a finger as if to reprimand him, then lowered it and sighed helplessly. "We'll talk latter," she warned him. Cyclops, still puzzled, turned to the others. "Ebony has told me about the Hunters. They're dangerous, so be careful." He paused, as if struggling how to say something. "One of them looks a lot like Logan," he said after a moment. Don't let that stop you. He's just as dangerous as the others." "Maybe even more," Ebony added. "They'll know your powers, so don't expect to surprise them, and they've worked together for a while now, so they'll have good team work. They've been hunting mutants all their life, and they've gotten good at it. They've got high-tech weaponry, and their tough. I've been facing them for as long as they've been working together, and I don't know everything they can do. So be careful." "Sounds dangerous," Bishop stated flatly. "'Everything is dangerous, my dear fellow,'" Druid stated calmly. "'If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living.'" "Oscar Wilde?" Beast asked. "Correct," Druid replied, impressed. "Two of them," Iceman and Berzerker said together in mock horror. They glared at each other. The others all chuckled slightly.  
  
Archangel and Psylocke were waiting for them when they arrived at the island. The two looked quiet irritated at missing their vacation. The blue-skinned billionaire flew over to bring himself face to face with Storm. "All right," he said, "Exactly what is going on?" "We don't have time to explain," Storm told him. "These are Rebel and Shadow, our new allies and." She paused, glancing around. "Where is Shadow?" "Gone to hunt for the Necromancer," Rebel replied. "He'll be back when he's killed him. Remember, if you see him, don't go anywhere near the Necromancer. He'll kill you without so much as a second thought." "That I will, my dear," a raspy, dry voice told them. Stepping from shadows was a tall, emaciate figure. He was gaunt and pale, which was accentuated by his tattered, dusty black robe. Red blood stained it. His eyes shone with a dark, evil hatred. His long, bony fingers ended in claw- like nails, and his teeth were yellow and rotting. His white hair was thin and scraggly, plastered over his skull. "Ah, my dear, dear Miss Walsh. So nice to see you again." "Necromancer," Rebel hissed. "What a wonderful new world this is. So full of life," the balding man spat. "Still, it has promise." "Give it up. There's no one for miles. Your all alone, and when Shadow catches up to you." "What? He'll kill me? My dear, he has killed me many times all ready. I don't see how one more will make a difference." He grinned cruelly. "And as for the lack of people. did you know that this island once had a cemetery? And that you are standing on it?" Suddenly, the ground erupted. Two dozen pairs skeletal, bare hands burst from the ground. Archangel and Storm launched themselves into the air, avoiding the grasping hands, and Rebel danced out of reach, but Wolverine and Psylocke both found themselves pulled to the ground as dead arms and hands pinned them down. Storm launched a lightning bolt at the Necromancer, but he ignored it, his dead flesh only charring slightly. With a wave of his hand a swarm of skeletal birds, some still with bloodied flesh hanging off them, flew from the trees and attacked her. Archangel flew at the emaciated figure, his hands before him clenched into fists. The villain merely stood, smiling, his arms outreached as if to welcome the winged mutant. A dark figure leapt from the trees, barrelling into Archangel and knocking him from the air. Rolling on the ground, his dagger drawn, Shadow faced his opponent. "Shadow," the Necromancer growled with hatred. The silent man stalked forward. In the distance, Wolverine had freed himself, cutting the bones of the skeletons that attacked him to pieces, but these pieces merely re- assembled and continued their assault. Psylocke was struggling, her psi- knife useless against her dead opponents, and Warren, unconscious, had a skeleton holding each of his limbs, and one holding each wing. Storm had destroyed the skeletal birds with a whirlwind, but more were attacking her, keeping her occupied. "How many times must you kill me," the Necromancer continued. "Before you learn that I cannot die?" "As many as it takes." "Tsk tsk tsk," the Necromancer waggled a finger at him. "You always seem to be getting yourself in this situation. If you come one step closer, I shall have my minions rip this winged man limb from limb." Shadow shrugged. "See if I care." He leapt forward, stabbing at the Necromancer. The dagger bit deep, rending his flesh. "Warren!" Psylocke, who had heard the whole conversation, screamed as the skeletons began pulling Archangel apart. A golden disc landed beneath him. For a second it sat there, then exploded, sending Archangel and the skeletons flying in different directions. The stunned X-Man landed hard against the ground, moaning in pain. Rebel jumped over his recumbent form, golden discs in hand, ready to defend his fallen body. A handful of skeletons charged her. She held a golden disc between each of her fingers, their razor sharp edges glinting. She slashed out with them, and the cut through brittle bone with ease. She lashed out with a foot, catching one skeleton in its chest and knocking it backwards. She ducked under one wild blow, slicing upwards with one hand and severing the arm just bellow the elbow. She sensed the next attack before it occurred and easily avoided the blow to her back, separating the skeleton's head from its shoulders. Shadow and the Necromancer were locked in a deadly dance, the Necromancer trying to dodge Shadow's razor-sharp dagger, his hands, claw-like, swiping harmlessly through Shadow's insubstantial body. Each time the dagger struck a skeleton crumbled to the ground. Eventually the X-Men had gathered around to watch, Rebel keeping them at a distance. "This won't be the last time," the Necromancer warned Shadow as the dagger sunk up to the hilt in his chest. Wordlessly Shadow withdrew the dagger and, with one smooth, swift motion, severed the Necromancer's head from his shoulders. As his body toppled to the ground it crumbled into dust, blowing away in the wind. "We're safe," Rebel said after a moment. "For now. It usually takes him a few months to come back." "He can come back from that?" Archangel asked, rubbing his bruised chest tenderly. "Just who are you people?" Shadow turned and glared at the handsome winged mutant. He stalked over and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him up to his face. Red eyes glinted in anger. "The people who saved your life." Warren stared back unimpressed, and Shadow sensed Psylocke moving behind him. He tossed the X-Man away, turning and walking right through Psylocke towards the jet. The purple-clad X-Man shivered with a dark chill as he passed though her. Rebel walked up to the pair. "I'm sorry," she said, only half sincerely. "He's like that sometimes." She glared at Archangel. "But if you had gotten near the Necromancer, he'd have killed you. Next time, pay attention when someone tells you not to do something. It may save your life."  
  
They had given up any hope of sneaking up on the Hunters. Due to the sensors plugged into his brain, Hunter had already identified them and told all his companions all their mutant powers. Still, they knew as much about their opponents as possible. They were facing each other across a small clearing. They had just seemed to gravitate there, as though it were the best place for the fight. Ebony was standing a little ahead of the others, facing a tall, handsome man with a cruel face and dark eyes. A scar ran across his left cheek. He was carrying a gun that made Bishop's look like a kid's toy and was covered in more weird-looking devices than Beast's lab. "Captain," he growled in a voice thick with hatred. "Devon," she replied, scowling. She had covered herself in her armour apart from her head. There was a slight pause where the X-Men took the chance to study their opponents. Standing opposite Berzerker was an even more massive figure. Whereas the young Kyle was merely tall and muscular, this man was abnormally so. Over eight feet tall and almost as wide, he was hunched over in a perpetual stoop. His long arms ended in huge, glove-like hands that could easily envelope someone's head. Bits of metal, obviously cybernetic implants, were dotted around his body. His brown hair was short and revealed a large, protruding forehead. His gaze was filled with slack- jawed stupidity. Hissing and growling, Drake was snorting small bursts of fire. Instead of skin he had metallic-green scales, and his face had been elongated to resemble a reptiles. His pupil-less eyes darted this way and that. Occasionally he let forth a large burst of flame at some insect or small animal that scuttled near him. He grabbed at the charred carcase of a bird that had gotten to close and began chewing absently on it. The fourth figure was the only one who seemed to be studying the X-Men as intently as they were studying him. By his metallic arms and legs, as well as a metallic mask that covered most of his face, the guessed him to be Prime Suspect. He stood stalk still, only his glinting, robotic eyes moving. Jean winced back from his mind. It was cold, calculating and deadly. She knew that as he studied them he was picking out their weaknesses, both physical and emotional, and choosing the best way to kill them, painfully and slowly. But it was the last one that held their attention the most. Pawing at the ground like a cadged animal, he threw his shaved head about wildly and made various guttural, primal noises. He only wore a loincloth, and the X-Men got the opinion that if he were free he wouldn't even wear that. Jagged, metallic claws protruded from his hand. When he opened his mouth sharp, metallic teeth glinted in the dim light. "Logan?" Jean gasped in shock. Though she had known, she hadn't been prepared for this. The Logan before her didn't deserve the name Wild Man, for it implied that the poor creature was a man. What stood before them could only be called an animal through lack of better comparison. The thought that someone had deliberately done this to him made it somehow much worse. "New friends?" Hunter was saying to Ebony. "Yes." "Doesn't matter. One of you or a hundred of you, we'll kill every damn stinkin' one of you." "Then why are you hesitating?" Without another word, she encased her head in armour and launched forward, black shards flying forward. Hunter, brining his gun around and firing at her, dodged the crystals with effortless ease. His shot slammed through the trees as it narrowly missed Ebony, severing several trunks as it disappeared into the distance. The Hunters and the X-Knights reacted marginally quicker than the X-Men. Berzerker and Thug both bellowed, Berzerker already frothing at the mouth, and charged, slamming into each other with a solid slap of flesh against flesh. Berzerker lifted Thug above his head, but the larger man slammed a huge elbow into his opponent's face, knocking him to the ground. Berzerker growled, hurling Thug away. Druid raised his hands above his head and the trees seemed to spring to life, trying to entwine Drake as he leaped high into the air. A burst of flames charred one tree but the damp would did not catch alight. Drake landed, whipping an arm back and catching a root in his hand, severing it. He rolled away as a branch nearly severed his head from his shoulders. With a yell of "kill" to Wild Man, pointing at the still shocked Phoenix, Prime Suspect walked slowly forward towards the X-Men. He typed something into his arm, and Wild Man became frenzied, charging forward at full speed. The X-Men split up to help their new companions. Beast, leaping from tree to tree, landed atop Thug's shoulder. The huge man threw the blue-furred scientist away, but Beast quickly recovered and leapt back into the attack. Iceman hurled a blast of ice at the dodging Drake, momentarily encasing him. Beaming at Druid, he didn't notice the ice prison shatter and a burst of fire hurl towards him. Only a tree limb sparred him an early grave, spinning him to the dirt under the blast, knocking him out. Rogue flew up into the air, trying to see where she would be most usefull. Beast and Berzerker were taking care of Thug, and Druid was keeping Drake off Iceman, as well as keeping the strange man occupied. Bishop and Gambit stalked towards Prime Suspect, while Cyclops was trying to blast Wild Man as he charged forward. Only Ebony seemed in dire need of air, Hunter having hit her with a paralytics bolt from one of his guns. Mustering all her strength she flew down, fists held ready. She was surprised when Hunter spun round, hurling a strange device at her. To close to change course and too fast to stop, Rogue couldn't dodge the glowing orb that struck her. It detonated, releasing a strange energy, and Rogue felt her entire body become much heavier. She fell to the ground, momentum carrying her forward, skidding through the dirt. When she stopped, she tried to lift herself from the ground, but she lacked the strength to even raise her arm. Jean had been taken back by Wild Man's sudden charge, and had barely managed to get up a telekinetic shield before he reached her. His ferocious attack kept her on her back feet, her shield straining against the frenzied assault. Only an optic blast from Cyclops dislodged him, and he turned, howling, to attack the leader of the X-Men. Prime Suspect lifted his hands and fired a bolt of pure energy at Bishop. The mutant absorbed the attack, turning it into his own bolt that he shot back at the curiously still Hunter. The bolt slammed into his chest, ripping his shirt and revealing the left side of his body as metal, but didn't seem to harm him. In fact, his metallic body parts seemed to glow with extra energy. "This should be interesting," Prime Suspect stated blandly. A pair of playing cards slammed into his back, exploding, but the result was no more effective. He turned to his second assailant in time to receive Gambit's boot in his face. Sprawling to the ground, he flipped back up, facing both the X-Men. He launched a barrage of darts at them from his chest. Gambit dodged them adroitly, but one hit Bishop. He felt the poison leaking through his body, and his vision grew blurry. Struggling with his suddenly weighty gun, he fired once at Prime Suspect before collapsing to the floor. Cyclops blasted the charging Wild Man, but the agile mutant dodged aside and leapt forward with astounding speed. Cyclops fell to the ground with Wild Man perched on top of him. He screamed in pain as a set of sharp, metallic teeth sunk into his shoulder and ripped a chunk of his flesh away. Wild Man slurped down the flesh, blood smearing his face. A telekinetic punch hurled Wild Man off Cyclops's body, and Phoenix rushed to his side. "Scott!" she cried, bending over him and covering them both with a telekinetic shield. Cyclops stirred, but didn't respond. Prime Suspect noticed this exchange while fighting off Gambit. He had trouble against the agile Cajun, who's swift blows kept him from activating one of his weapons, but a swift punch that he landed on Gambit's chin gave him enough time to type a command into the key-pad on his arm. Ignoring Cyclops and Phoenix, Wild Man launched himself at Gambit. His claw cut deep into the startled X-Man's side, pulling him away from the wild creature's master. Gambit spun away, a single blow knocking Logan from him. Prime Suspect walked slowly to were Jean held the fallen leader of the X- Men. "Ah, love," he said, gently caressing the telekinetic shield that held him back. "How feeble. How delectable." Phoenix glared darkly at him, gathering the strength to strike. She struck him with a powerful bolt of telekinetic energy, but he merely twitched in annoyance as a shield he had generated deflected it. "Dear lady," he said. "Why fight? I wish you no harm." He placed a hand on the shield. A bolt of electricity flowed through it and shot strait at Jean's mind. Shrieking, she fell backwards, pain exploding through her mind. "No harm at all." "Jean," Scott groaned, struggling to rise. The telekinetic shield had dropped, and Prime Suspect casually strolled forward. An optic blast was promptly absorbed. He reached down and effortlessly whipped Cyclops's visor from his face. "Don't bother opening you eyes, dear boy," he said. He placed his hand on Scott's wounded shoulder, causing him to scream in pain. "Such a nasty cut," he continued, increasing the pressure. Meticulously he began inserting his fingers deeper into the wound. "You must learn to be more careful." He found the nerve he was looking for. "Ah, there it is." A small blade flicked from his finger and he severed the nerve. Cyclops screamed in pain, his eyes bursting open and his optic blast shooting into the sky, ripping through the treetops. "Much better." Rogue's attack had provided just enough of a distraction for Ebony to break free of the paralysis. She hurled a shard at Hunter's back, piercing his side. The obsessive man screamed in anger and shock, spinning and pulling out a grenade. He tossed it at Ebony's feet, but she jumped away, rolling back on the offensive. Another shower of bolts made Hunter duck, brining his head into the path of Ebony's foot. He staggered backwards, his eyes watering, but none-the-less managed to pull out a small pistol. Aim, fire, and duck. A powerful explosion knocked Ebony from her feet, her armour cracking under the strain. Rogue couldn't see much of the battle from where she lay. The strange device still held her. She tried to discover what was going on, but couldn't even muster the strength to bat an eyelash much less than mover her head. Suddenly, though, a bolt of movement dashed across her vision. Gambit had danced backwards, trying desperately to avoid Wild Man's claws. Rogue watched as his cards exploded at the mutant hunter's feet, but the mindless creature continued unaffected. She saw him sink his claws into Gambit, red blood spilling onto the ground. "Remy!" she called. Struggling, she managed to shift her hands under her. The device crackled as she strained against it. She managed to push herself up to her knees, struggling all the way. Her body felt as though it weighed the world. The device gave another crackle and she nearly fell back down as the field increased. But she caught sight of Wild Man sinking his teeth into Gambit. With a primal scream she thrust upwards with strength born of desperation. The device fell from her, its power exhausted by her strength. She flew through the air, slamming into Wild Man and ripping him from Gambit's fallen form. Iceman woke to see a mass of tree branches and roots weaved around him. He could see Drake and Druid through the gaps in the weave, Druid with his staff around Drake's neck, his knee jabbed in Drake's spine. Drake was spitting fire and swinging wildly, but couldn't shake the powerful mutant. The charred remains of various snakes and other animals littered the floor. A slightly burnt jaguar was stalking them, staying carefully out of the way of any bursts of flame. Iceman burst from the cover with a shower of ice. A large lance of ice shattered against Drake, failing to penetrate his scaly armour. Drake finally got a hand around Druid, lifting him from his back and hurling him away. The jaguar jumped up, knocking Drake to the ground, but Drake opened his mouth and a burst of flame engulfed the poor cat's head. A series of roots, branches and vines entwined Drake, holding him down and wrapping his mouth shut. He struggled against his bonds, but a sheet of ice soon covered him, trapping him completely. Prime Suspect flew through the air as Phoenix's telekinetic punch slammed into his back. Cyclops snapped his eyes closed and struggled to rise. His visor was telekinetically lifted from the ground where it fell and placed on him. He turned, firing a bolt at the ground beneath Prime Suspect's feet, sending a shower of dust and dirt flying. Berzerker grunted as Thug slammed his fist into his face, then grabbed his arm. With a powerful push, he pushed Berzerker's arm up and through his shoulder, the bone bursting through his flesh into the air. Unconcerned, he replied with a solid punch to the stomach, causing Thug to double over. He hit the hulking man in the back of his head, and he fell to the ground with an audible grunt. A solid kick sent him spinning through the air, where Beast caught him with his feat, spinning him around and throwing him back. Berzerker leaned back and, at just the right moment, launched a punch that smashed a number of Thug's ribs and sent him flying. Hunter fell backwards, glowering as his opponent stood above him. He stuck a sharp dart in her foot, its sharp blade cutting through her armour with ease. He tapped the top of the dart, and it began beeping. Rolling away, he watched it explode, shattering Ebony's armour and knocking her to the ground, unconscious. He grinned evilly and walked over to her, but a bolt of ice knocked him back and a vine wrapped around his leg. He glowered at Druid and Iceman as the walked towards him. He glanced around and saw Prime Suspect fall. He noticed where Drake was captured and where Thug was gasping on the ground. He saw Wild Man pinned to a tree under a hail of blows from an extremely mad Rogue. He noticed Prime Suspect signalling to him, and reluctantly nodded. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a small box. Pressing a button, the box gave out a bright light, stunning everyone. When they could finally see, the mutants saw that their opponents had vanished. Cyclops gave one last gasp of pain and dropped, unconscious, Jean catching him as he fell. Rogue rushed over to where Gambit lay, unconscious but alive. Berzerker looked around for someone else to fight, but his feet gave out underneath him and his eyes rolled back into his head. Druid carefully checked Bishop's pulse. He pulled a leaf from a plant that had suddenly sprouted next to him and fed it to the fallen mutant. "He's alive," he said to the others. "But he'll be out for a few hours." They gently brought the fallen together. Fully half their number lay incapacitated, and their enemies had escaped. The mood was glum. They would all survive, but things hadn't gone very well. A strange chitterling was coming from the trees. Druid closed his eyes briefly, sniffing the air, then widened them in shock. "Look ou." he managed to say before the hail of darts erupted from the surroundings. Gambit, Rogue, Iceman and Beast were stuck with the darts. They struggled but the insidious venom soon had them asleep on the floor. Phoenix had managed to shield herself in time, and Druid's powers made him immune to the natural poison that coated the darts. Druid tried to discern the location of their attackers, but a net dropped from above pinned him to the ground. Before he could bring his powers to bear a scuttling figure ran up to him and knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head. Phoenix tried to levitate upwards, but a net was dropped on her as well. She lifted it up using her telekinesis, throwing it off her. She tried to figure out who was attacking her, and from where, but she couldn't pierce the minds of any of her attackers. Suddenly a strange, metallic claw burst from the ground, gabbing her telekinetic sphere and squeezing it. She struggled against the force, but it proved too much for her and, after a brief moment, she collapsed unconscious. The metallic claw released her, placing her gently on the ground beside her companions. Shadowy, scuttling figures darted from shadow to shadow, wrapping crude vine ropes around the fallen mutants. Soon, as the moon rose into the sky above, they were dragged away to meet their fate. 


	3. To the Rescue

A/N: Chapter three. We get to see what happened to the group that went after the Hunters, as well as finding out just why Druid is so mysterious about his past (and why he has no name). Oh, and I know my attempt and writing Gambit's speech is rather poor. Do forgive me. Read on.  
  
Disclaimer: I own none of the X-Men and I'm not making any money from this. Still.  
  
"I still think I could have taken him," Archangel stubbornly insisted as they entered the X-Mansion. Shadow threw his hands up in surrender and stalked off through a wall.  
"Does he ever use doors?" Psylocke asked Rebel.  
"Nope." The Spanish beauty shook her head. "He's a bit off a show off, really."  
"A bit?" Rebel chuckled.  
"I mean, I have been doing this for a long time," Archangel was muttering to himself. "I can face Magneto, Apocalypse, and every other mutant alive, but one old man who we've never even heard of?"  
"Warren," Psylocke said exasperatedly. "Stop whining."  
"I am not whining!"  
"Warren," Storm said calmly. "That man was a mutant whose power meant he could kill you with a single touch. And you haven't heard of him because he is from an alternate reality and he only just arrived. Shadow is the only one, in either our world or theirs, who is immune to this man's powers."  
"Oh." Archangel thought about this. "Well if you had said that."  
Rebel laughed uproariously as Psylocke merely wrapped an arm around the rich mutant and led him away. "Oh, dear," Rebel said after a while, whipping the tears of mirth from her face. "Is he always like that?"  
"Not usually," Storm replied. "I think he is still upset about having to cut his vacation short."  
"See, I told you so." Storm stared at her blankly. "People get nasty when their vacations are ruined." Storm chuckled as she and Rebel walked into the mansion.  
They met Shadow in the hall, hood and cowl removed. He had a concerned expression on his face. "I'm worried about the others."  
"Oh, they went after the other disturbance," Rebel said offhand. "I'm sure they're fine." Shadow gave he a look. "You can't kill everyone. You have to leave some for us." Shadow still seemed unimpressed. "OK, if they don't call back in two hours we'll check on them. Better?" Shadow still looked dubious, but nodded. He seemed to think of something. "Storm," he said. "Would you mind showing me the flyers?" "Certainly," the weather goddess responded, a bit surprised. "But why?" "Practicality. You never know when you may need an extra pilot." It seemed innocent enough, but both Rebel and Storm knew he had an ulterior motive. Still, there was no harm in just showing him. Storm smiled. "We shall take care of it soon." "The sooner the better. In fact, now would be just fine." Storm looked a bit dubious, but nodded. "And don't worry about the others," Rebel said to Shadow as she walked off. "They're just fine. Trust me."  
  
"Ugh, my head." Ebony came to, and tried to rub her aching head with her hands. Her bonds creaked. Her eyes snapped instantly open and she came to full awareness. She stared at the room. It was a bright medic's room. She was lying on an examination table, her clothes removed. Some of the other tables were likewise occupied; she recognised the people laying on them. The X-Men Gambit, Bishop and Cyclops lay tethered to their tables. She summoned her armour. The bonds stretched just enough to allow her to, but didn't break, nor could she cut them with her blades. She sighed. These were the situations where she envied Shadow. "Ah, Chere, you are awake." She turned her head to see Gambit staring at her. She suddenly blushed, glad that she had summoned her armour. She had to find out what had happened to her clothes. "Where are we?" "Gambit does not know, Chere. But it looks bad, oui?" "Oui," Ebony said, sighing. "Don't worry, Chere. No prison can hold Gambit." "This one can," said a strange, coarse voice from the door. They turned to see a hunched, shuffling figure. His body was twisted in a parody of humanity. He was a hunched, albino figure, hairless, lacking even eyebrows. Scars and stitches covered him. One of his arms was twisted at an unusual angle and the other hung at his side. The looked like they were different lengths from each other. His eyes were pupil-less, but he seemed to have no problem seeing. He carried a tray of medical equipment and had a rather bored expression on his face. "No one has ever escaped from here. No one ever will." He walked over to Cyclops's recumbent form and began to examine his wounds. "Who are you?" Ebony demanded. "What are we doing here?" Gambit kept silent, squirming his bonds, trying to break free. "You are here because the Master captured you." Gambit had one arm free. A bright glow surrounded Cyclops's shoulder where Prime Suspect had severed the nerve. "Why?" Gambit had freed both his arms now, and was silently untying his legs. The wound on Cyclops's shoulder had closed, and the strange creature walked over to Bishop. "The Master shall explain all." Gambit was free now. He reached for a card in his jacket, but they had been taken away. He stalked up behind the hunchback who was injecting something into Bishop. "Who is the Master?" The creature swung round with unearthly agility, grabbed Gambit and slammed him against the nearby wall. His expression never changed. "The Master is the Master. And soon he shall be your master, just as he is mine." Gambit picked up something from a near by table and charged it. It glowed bright with energy as it flew in a perfect arc at the unconcerned hunchback. The hunchback grabbed Bishop's unconscious form and, as easily as one would lift a doll, he shoved the mutant in the way of the charged projectile. It exploded, pouring its energy into Bishop. Expertly, still appearing bored, the albino threw Bishop at Gambit, the two falling to the ground. He gave a shrill cry followed by noises no human could ever make; crackling, shrieking, clawing noises unlike any other noise. The answering call was a chittering sound, like a thousand teeth chattering against a golden bell. Into the room burst ten strange creatures. They looked like twisted monkeys, small and agitated, covered in coarse, dirty fur. At their elbows each of their arms branched out into three, and each hand had two thumbs. They carried a weapon in each hand, sometimes crude wooden clubs, sometime primitive axes, the heads made of flint, and sometimes spears, tipped with either flint or bone. Their long, whip-like tails, two each, were barbed. Their feet were more like hands, and their finger-like toes ended in sharp, cruel talons. They wore no clothes, but their fur was so thick that this didn't matter. Some were black with bright green eyes, others a dull maroon with red eyes like glowing embers, while some, their fur a brown-green colour, had eyes as black as ink, and those with blue eyes, burning like a bright flame, had fur the colour of bones left in the sun. The skin of their faces, hands, feet and the tips of their tails (the only places not covered in fur), was the same colour as their fur, but was shrived and wrinkled, like meat left out to rot. A putrid stench of blood and rotting flesh hung about them. The chitterd and chattered as they jumped about, surrounding Gambit and Bishop, who was now awake, Prime Suspect's poison purged from his veins, holding their weapons pointed at the fallen X-Men. Briefly they considered fighting, but they realised that they would only kill a few of the monkey- like creatures before they died. The held their hands up in surrender. Cyclops moaned and tried to turn, waking slowly. As he was about to open his eyes, he realised that his visor had been removed. He clamped his eyes shut. "What is going on?" He strained uselessly against the bonds that held him. "I would not open your eyes," a coarse voiced warned him. "The Master would not be pleased to replace the ceiling." "Who are you?" "A servant." "Where are the others?" "Gambit and I are here," Bishop said, answering his leader's question. "With the woman you brought with you." "Where is Jean?" "I don't know. I have not seen any of the others since the battle." "You shall be taken to them now," the albino told them, holding out their costumes. Cyclops and Ebony's bonds slid away. They stood and the four heroes dressed as more monkey-like creatures entering to room with drawn weapons. There was the sound of a metallic door sliding open.  
  
"I do not understand why you wish to learn to fly these," Storm said, showing Shadow the controls. He had declined to use the simulator, saying he just wanted to know the controls. "I told you," he replied, studying them carefully. He hadn't told Storm, but he had carefully watched her pilot the craft. With what he had Storm tell him now, he knew he could fly the craft without too much difficulty. As soon as he got away from Storm, he would double back and fly to the Amazon. He knew his companions needed his help, and he didn't have enough time to argue with the others. "I don't believe that. You have some reason. I would guess that you wished to aid your friends, were it not for the fact that it would take much more than an hour to learn to fly." Shadow turned on the engine, opening the hanger door with the remote. "I'm a fast learner." A flutter of movement caught his attention and he gave a low growl.  
  
"Scott!" Jean cried as they were led into the room where the others were held prisoner. "Jean!" He moved towards her voice, but the point of a spear made him stop. He was placed in chains and locked in. He felt a visor clamped around his face. "You may open your eyes now," the coarse voice told him. He did so, looking around the room in shock. His vision was tinted with the usually red of ruby quartz, the visor covering his face made of the material. Jean was chained to the wall opposite him, a metal device on her head obviously stopping her from using her powers. Beast, Bishop, Gambit and Druid were likewise chained up. Bobby was hooked into a strange metallic device. When he tried to activate his ice powers it glowed red hot, responding to the drop in temperature, and melted any ice before it could really form. Ebony was trapped in a cage of solid metal, only a small slit for air allowing her to see out. "Where is Rogue?" Gambit asked, as soon as he took in his surroundings. "We don't know, my friend," Beast said. "She was not here when we awoke." "Nor was Berzerker," Druid added, directing the comment at his leader. The creatures, as well as the albino, had left. "I managed to send the others the message." "Good," Ebony replied. "What message?" Cyclops asked, straining against his bonds. "Help."  
  
"Black rose," Shadow yelled at Rebel as he appeared through the wall. His hood was up and his eyes were blazing red. "Black rose!" Rebel leapt up from the chair where she was having a conversation with Psylocke. "Lets go!" "What the hell does 'black rose' mean?" "When Druid is in trouble and can't get word to us," Rebel said, slipping her boots back on. "He sends a white dove with a black rose in its mouth." "You were right," Betsy said to Shadow, rising. "They are in trouble." But Shadow was already gone, through the wall back towards the hanger. The others weren't too far behind.  
  
The metallic doors slid open once more. Four of the monkey-like creatures, one of each colour, entered. They were somewhat taller than the others and carried no weapons. Behind them walked the hunchback, with a strange figure. He (if it was a he) could best be described as androgynous. Long, white hair ran down his back. His skin was a pale white and his lips a dark red, like blood. He was thin, to the point of being skeletal. He wore rich gold metallic armour that was obviously fitted exactly to him. His eyes were pupil-less. Apart from the long, luscious strands of hair flowing from his skull, his body was devoid of hair. Not even eyebrows. Standing next to each other, it was clear to see the resemblance of the androgynous figure and the hunchback. They both had a certain 'made' quality, but while the hunchback looked as though he had been stitched together from other peoples' bodies, the androgynous man looked as though he had been carved from marble. "Who are you?" Cyclops demanded. "Why have you captured us? Where are the others?" The androgynous figure moved over to the leader of the X-Men. His feet didn't seem to touch the ground, and his legs never moved. He seemed to float rather than walk. "Full of questions," he said in a lyrical but strangely disquieting voice, much like a beautiful symphony with one instrument out of tune. "Be silent." The command had a power behind it, and Cyclops felt his tongue grow heavy and his jaw seize shut. He floated back to the monkey-like creatures. "You have served me well for many years," he said to them. "You have led your clans as I have commanded, never shirking from duty." He waved his hand at the X-Men and X- Knights. "These shall be your reward. Each of you shall be given the power of one of these mutants, of your choice." The monkey-like creatures chattered happily and grinned. The white one, however, looked concerned. "How we know which power they have?" he asked in halting English. "You won't." The monkeys frowned and began chittering angrily. There were some words of English that broke through. "Not good, not good," the black one cried over and over again, hopping on its knuckles. "How we know you not give us bad powers?" the green one cried. The red one shrieked its agreement. "There is no way," androgynous figure stated, his voice still unemotional and flat. "The transfer is permanent, and I shall not allow the mutants to use their powers. They may escape." He paused, glancing at where Bobby was trapped in his heat sensitive prison and Jean's psychic disabler. "They have tried that already. I do not know all their powers, either." "Actually, Master," the hunchback said, his voice equally dull. "There is a way. The experimental power-draining devices are still operational. There is one that will drain the powers from the mutants for a short amount of time. If they used those, they could test the powers of their chosen mutant, and if they did not like it, it would wear off after a short amount of time." "Very well. Show them how to work the machine and then get back to work on the permanent transfer device. I have things to do." With that he floated away. The monkeys chattered and gnashed their teeth together, hopping about the room, looking at all the captives. The green one picked Bobby almost immediately, and the red one selected Ebony, obviously assuming that their increased protection meant that they were more powerful. Likewise, the black one selected Jean. That left only the white one, who had taken time to study each one in turn. When he approached Druid, the X-Knight spoke to him. "Chose me," he said, his voice full of power and command. The X-Men looked at his like he was mad. Only Ebony trusted that he had a plan. "I control the powers of nature. With that power, you would be the most powerful creature in the rainforest." The white monkey glared at him suspiciously. After a moment, he nodded. More monkey guards arrived and led out the four mutants with the unarmed monkeys. Bobby and Ebony were still in their custom prisons, but they were wheeled along with the other two. The hunchback followed them, leaving the X-Men chained to the wall. "What do we do now, Cyclops?" Bishop asked, as Gambit struggled in his chains, trying to free himself. But the leader of the X-Men was still unable to speak, and could only shrug in defeat.  
  
They landed by the Blackbird, but there was little sign of their friends. Wolverine followed their scent to the sight of the battle, where he was met with the scent of four people he'd never met before, their scent strong with metal, dozens of creatures who's kind he had never encountered before, and himself. He paused, snorting. He had defiantly been here, and not too long ago. "Well?" Warren asked impatiently. "There was a fight," he said after a moment. "I'm guessing it's the Hunters." "How do you know?" Rebel asked him. "I was here. I can smell it." "You were here?" Warren asked, not knowing about Wolverine's alternate self. "How?" "An alternate him," Rebel explained to Warren and Betsy as Wolverine continued to follow the scent of their friends. Shadow was standing impassively to the side. "From the same world as us. It's complicated. We'll explain latter." "Found 'em," Wolverine said. "Some weird creatures attacked 'em and dragged 'em away." "The Hunters?" Shadow asked. "Gone. Don't know how. Their tracks come in, but don't come out." "Forget them," Rebel said. "We need to help our the others." Wolverine nodded and walked off into the jungle, following the smell of the creatures. Soon they found themselves outside a castle of solid metal. "This is it," Wolverine said. "They're inside."  
  
Druid was the first hooked to the machine. It looked like an electric chair gone wrong, with wires and cables streaming into it from large computers, cylinders filled with various coloured liquids and other devices that defied description. A number of mettle strips were placed on him, the wires on them leading to a similar chair where the white monkey-like creature was strapped in. The hunchback stood near a large switch. He was explaining to process to the monkeys. "Once you have calibrated the machine you simply activate it by flipping the switch. The transfer will be immediate, and should last for long enough time for you to test your new abilities. Afterwards, their abilities shall return." With that, the hunchback turned and left through another door. One of the monkey creatures walked over to the machine and began typing. After a moment he flicked the switch. There was a jolt of electricity, the whirr of machinery, and Druid shook violently as the power was stripped from him and given to the white-furred creature. The process only lasted a few moments, and the monkey creature and Druid were released. The monkey creature stood shakily and put two of its hands to its head. "What happen." he muttered. With a shriek he collapsed on the floor writhing in pain and agony. "My power," Druid said, as the other monkeys watched on, trying to puzzle out this sudden change. "You can now feel everything any living creature in the world can feel. Anytime anyone cuts themselves, anytime an animal is slaughtered, anytime a rose is picked, anytime a blade of grass is stepped on, you feel it." He strode forward, standing threateningly over the screaming figure. "Your mind can't handle it. None can. It's being wiped clean by the pain; every memory will be erased but the pain." Several weapons pointed threateningly at him, and he backed down. The monkeys were chattering amongst themselves angrily, wondering what to do. "That's why you never told us who you are," Ebony said from within her metallic cage. "Your don't remember." "What a horrible power," Jean said. "You feel all the pain in the world?" "I feel everything. Every drop of rain, every lover's caress," he shook his head. "But the pain is the strongest. I always assumed that my powers became active during puberty, like everyone else, but when I gained control over my powers, I looked as I do now." Jean widened her eyes at the middle- aged man. "Since then I have learned the advantages this facet of my powers gives." "That's what block me when I tried to read your mind," Jean realised. "Correct. I can also sink my mind into the feelings, protecting myself from outside stimuli." "Huh?" Bobby, quiet till now, was completely lost. "He can ignore anything," Ebony clarified. "Pain, pleasure; anything he feels is so much smaller than what the rest of the world feels, he can ignore it." Just at that moment, a blaring siren cut through the air. The monkeys chattered excitedly and several of them ran off. Druid grinned. "Our friends have arrived." Even as he said it, he felt his powers return. The monkey was lying unconscious on the floor, its fellows trying to raise it. Only a few guards stood watch over the mutants, and they were distracted by the alarm. Druid reached out and grabbed a spear from one of the monkey's hands. He kicked out at the same time, sending the monkey to the floor. With one swift motion he threw the spear at Bobby, the flint tip shattering the control panel on the front. He turned to face the monkeys. With the device broken, Iceman easily freed himself, freezing and shattering the metal bonds. With a wave of his hand he froze on of the walls of Ebony's cage. Now iced up, he launched a barrage of ice at the charging monkeys. A shatter of ice flew through the air as Ebony, fully armoured, burst through her cage. She lashed out with an arc of crystal shards, piercing the thin hides of the monkey-like creatures. She lashed out with a vicious kick that caught a leaping creature in the head, shattering its skull. Jean ripped the psychic inhibitor off her head, tossing it to the ground. Her powers freed, she used a telekinetic bolt to scatter several of the creatures near her. As soon as they hit the ground, Ebony was among them, the sharp blades on her arms slipping easily through their chests. Soon, it was over, and their guards were all dead.  
  
Berzerker was chained to the wall. That, in itself, was not a problem; there was no chain he couldn't become strong enough to break. However, there was a spring-loaded steel spike pointed strait at his heart. He knew that no matter how quickly he moved, he wouldn't be able to dodge it, and, tough as he could be, he couldn't survive with six inches of steel through his heart. Any other part of his chest and he was fine. His heart, though, was rather important. He watched as the strange, androgynous figure enter again. "Who the hell are you?" Berzerker demanded. He quickened the production of his 'adrenaline,' just so he was ready for any eventuality. "I am the Master." These were the first words the figure had spoken to him. "The Master? What are you, some 60s comic book villain?" "I am a mutant, just like you." "You don't look like me." Berzerker had learned long ago that playing the idiot was the best way for him to go. He wasn't quite as stupid as everyone thought, and he was smart enough to keep it that way. "My appearance, and that of my brother, is one aspect of our mutant 'gifts.'" "And what are your other gifts?" "I can create objects of metal at will." He reached out a hand and a 3- dimensional polygon made of solid steel appeared in mid air. "And your brother?" Berzerker remembered the albino hunchback who seemed to work for the Master. They did have a certain resemblance. "He can manipulate this metal into anything he desires." "Sounds like he's the more powerful one. So why are you in charge and not him?" "I am smarter." The answer was simple, but it left a lot unsaid. Berzerker was about to ask another question when the alarm interrupted them.  
  
The hunchback was in the lab, busily working when the alarm went off. He ignored it. He had work to do, and the guards would take care of the intruders. He looked at the large glass cylinder that dominated one of the walls of the room. It was filled with a strange blue translucent liquid gel. In it was suspended the mutant. Her brown hair (a single streak of white) billowed in the subtle currents of the gel. He naked form hung there, unmoving and unconscious, waiting for the procedure to be complete. The Master had discovered the mutant as soon as she had entered the jungle. He had shot down their plain to get them all within his grasp, using an energy gun they had created which shut down all electrical systems. The Master was always hungry for more mutant powers to study. The monkeys had watched the mutants carefully until their friends arrived. They had found out little about the stranger's mutant powers, but power fairly radiated from the beautiful woman. She had been the target. When she had been captured, the hunchback had tended to her as to the other injured mutants, but he had made the mistake of making skin-to-skin contact with her. Her power activated and drained his. The contact was very brief, and though she had woken up, she was swiftly subdued. So the Master had done a number of experiments, discovering the full nature of her powers, and had been overjoyed at the result. The Master was obsessed with creating a 'new race.' Both the brothers lacked any sort of reproductive capabilities, and his obsession with genetic engineering was a way to deal with that. The Master had always wanted a way to transfer his mind and mutant powers from one body into another, allowing him to finally experience the joy of emotion and feeling; his skin was as dead as his emotions, unfeeling and unresponsive. The hunchback preferred it that way, but his brother want to feel life. The mutant named Rogue offered the perfect opportunity. Using her powers as a conduit, the Master had designed a machine to transfer someone's mutant powers, mind or both from one body to another. Of course, the process would kill her, but then that was not different from any experiment the brothers had done before. Oh, her body and her powers would survive, but her mind would be destroyed almost instantly. Things had proven even better than the brothers could have hoped. The Master had found his new body in one of the woman's friends. The big, powerful mutant had his weaknesses, of course, but after a little genetic engineering he should be neigh on invincible. Still, there was much to do before everything was ready. Though the Master had designed the machine, as usual the building was up to the hunchback. Actually, he absently thought to himself as he used his powers to shape a piece of mettle into a long tube, it's better this way. The hunchback wasn't interested in things like world domination, new races or feeling. He was content simply to make things. He would let his brother have the mad schemes. Everything went dark suddenly. The hunchback looked around in surprise. The lights hadn't failed; even when every light in the fortress was off there was enough light for the hunchback to see at least the outline of his lab. But now he could see nothing. He shaped the tube he was holding into a working flashlight. Though his brother could only produce metal, he could turn it into anything he liked. He flicked the switch. Nothing happened. Curious. A pair of red dots blinked into existence right in front of him. The hunchback started back. If he concentrated, he thought he could make out the form of a person. He swung a vicious punch that would have punched through a sheet of solid steel, but he stumbled forward as his hand met no resistance. He shivered with a deep cold that went beyond physical. He saw the figure more clearly now. It held a blade poised to strike. For the first time in his life, the hunchback felt real emotion. He felt deep hear. He stumbled backwards, stammering. "No. no. noooo!" There was a crash as he tripped over something, knocking a tray of medical equipment to the floor. The blade struck fast, and it struck only once. It went strait through the hunchback's chest, digging into the mettle floor below. The hunchback died with a strangled gurgle.  
  
The alarm made almost all the monkeys guarding them disappear out various doors. Only four stood guard now, one for each X-Man. They chattered nervously to each other in what the mutants were coming to recognise as an actual language, though one unlike any they had ever heard. "I think Druid's message reached its destination," Beast stated blandly. As if response one of the large mettle doors burst open in a cloud of billowing smoke. A pair of lithe figures danced through the smoke. Rebel had a golden disc between each of her fingers. She gracefully dodged the first attack levelled at her, ending up behind the charging monkey. She grabbed its chin in one hand, snapping it back and with one smooth motion slit its throat. She dropped its dead body and spun on her heals. She released the discs and they flew with unerring accuracy at two of the remaining monkeys. The agile monkeys tried to dodge, and one managed to avoid all the blows. One of them only managed to dodge two of the discs, the third striking it in the chest. A burst of electricity surrounded it and its twitching, smoking corpse fell to the floor. Psylocke was no less deadly. Her psi knife took care of the first monkey to attack her, and a simple roundhouse kick broke the neck of the monkey dodging Rebel's discs. Rebel released Cyclops from his chains. "Storm and Angle are attacking the main gate to provide a distraction," she said as she helped the leader of the X-Men down. Betsey freed Bishop and moved on to help Beast. "Shadow is around somewhere. Where are the others?" "Bobby, Jean, Ebony and Druid were taken out through that door," Cyclops said, pointing. "I don't know where Berzerker and Rogue are." "What about Gambit?" Psylocke asked. Scott looked around. "He was here," he said after a moment. "He must have slipped off in the confusion," Bishop said. "Indubitably, that does seem his style," Beast added. "I doubt he is in any real danger. We should concern ourselves with freeing the others." "Right. Psylocke, Bishiop and I will follow Jean and the others. Beast, you and Rebel try to find the others." "Or at least our weapons," Bishop added, referring to his missing arsenal. Cyclops nodded. "Lets go."  
  
Shadow slid the blade out of the hunchback's dead body, the dagger eagerly lapping up the twisted mutant's blood. He dissolved the darkness, carefully studying the room. That was when he noticed the cylinder. "Damn," he swore. He picked up the tray that had fallen on the floor and with an easy cast sent it flying to the cylinder. Glass shattered and fell to the floor among a wave of the gel-like liquid. Rogue fell among it, landing right in Shadow's arms. He lowered her gently to the floor. He removed his black gloves to check her pulse. No pulse or breath. "Damn," he swore again. He pulled back his hood and cowl. Tenderly he parted her lips. He gently breathed air back into. "Live," he commanded, as though it would help. He pushed firmly on her chest. No change. He tried the process again. "Live!" Rogue coughed and sputtered as she fluttered back to consciousness. She rolled over as she tried to clear her lungs of the liquid gel, sobbing with pain. She shivered with the cold as her bare skin pressed against the mettle floor. Shadow removed his cloak and gently draped it over her. His bare hand brushed a tear from her face. "You're alright," he said softly to her. He held her shoulders, trying to comfort her. He was concentrating so hard on the woman that he didn't notice the attack until it was too late. The explosion hit him in the back and sent him flying across the room. He went strait through the floor, disappearing from sight. "Stay away from her, mon ami!" Gambit yelled as he charged into the room. He knelt by Rogue. "Don' worry, chere. Gambit here. He protect you." Gambit had arrived just in time to see Shadow holding the sobbing and choking Rogue, and had assumed that he was attacking her. He had been carrying a few lose pieces of medical equipment he had scooped up, and a quick charge had blown the 'attacker' away. Shadow appeared through the floor right behind Gambit. He grabbed the Cajun thief by the scruff of his neck and with one hand tossed him away. He didn't even bother to draw his dagger. He helped Rogue to her feet. She was clutching his cloak around her, trying for some modicum of decency, and was gasping for enough breath to speak. "I'll handle this," he said, obviously not realising that Gambit was a friend of Rogue's. The two faced off against each other. Gambit held a scalpel in one hand. Shadow grinned and drew his dagger forth. Gambit charged the scalpel and threw it. Shadow saw the glowing object and dodged out of the way. He rolled into a crouch as the scalpel exploded against the wall behind him, sending a fair amount of mettle flying. Gambit launched a kick at Shadow's head, but his foot passed harmlessly through. Shadow lashed out with his hand, catching Remy's other foot and pulling it out from under him. The Cajun thief fell to the floor but rolled away instantly. Both opponents jumped into a fighting crouch, Gambit with a small, charged, metal bar in his hand. "Stop!" Rogue yelled. "Stop right now." She stomped forward, Shadow's cloak still wrapped round her protectively. "Chere?" Gambit asked, still eyeing Shadow warily. "But he attacked you, no?" "He saved mah life, Remy," she told him. "And you," she turned on Shadow. "Don't you go attackin' mah friends." Shadow bowed mockingly. "Of course not." Still, he gave Gambit a glance that said clearly 'try it again, and you're dead.' Gambit returned the gaze levelly. "Now who are ya?" "I am Shadow." "Shadow? Ya'll one of Ebony's friends?" "Yes." He and Gambit still eyed each other warily. "I think we should find the others quickly." "Ah'm not goin' anywhere till Ah find some clothes," Rogue stated flatly. "Ah can't fight like this." "Well, chere." Gambit began. "Don't even think it, swamp rat," Rogue glared at him. "Allow me," Shadow said. He grabbed his cloak and in one swift motion pulled it away. Rogue yelped and tried to cover herself up. Rogue glared at Shadow, clutching her arms about herself protectively, but he merely smiled oddly as he slipped his cloak back on. She glanced down at herself. To her surprise, she wasn't naked, but fully dressed. She was wearing a beautiful black evening gown, with sparkling diamonds, a low neckline and a slit up one side showing off most of her thigh. "Mon Dieu!" Gambit breathed. Rogue goggled at the obviously expensive dress. "Ah can't fight in this!" she exclaimed. "It's not real," Shadow assured her. The others stared blankly at him. "Its an illusion. I made it from nearby shadows. See." He stepped forward and grabbed her waist. His hand passed through the black material and rested lightly against her skin. Rogue flinched away from his hand, but nothing happened. Shadow gave her an odd look. "Just don't go to far away from me or it will dissolve," he warned her. He slipped on his hood and cowl, walking through the wall. "Très belle, chere," Gambit said, walking up to her and wrapping an arm round her waist. His hand went strait through the dress and grazed her skin. "Remy, no!" She felt the usual jolt as she absorbed his mutant powers and his memories. He gave a cry of surprise and fell backwards. The touch hadn't been much, but it had been enough. Shadow reappeared as soon as Rogue cried out. "What happened?" he demanded. "He touched me," Rogue said. "And mah power.." she stared in horror at Gambits recumbent form. Shadow sighed in exasperation. "I won't ask. Come on, we've got to get him out of here." Shadow slung the Cajun over his shoulder easily. He slid open one of the mettle doors. "We'll come back for the others after we get him to safety." Rogue chased after Shadow as he disappeared down the corridor. Her mind was jumbled with the recent events. One thought keep coming back to her, though. "He touched me," she said to herself. "He touched me and mah power didn't hurt him."  
  
"I am offering you a deal," the Master said to Berzerker, ignoring the blaring alarm. "You aren't in a position to deal," Berzerker said confidently. "That alarm is my friends, and they'll tear you limb from limb." "What I am offering you has nothing to do with your friends, or your freedom. I am offering you invincibility." "Huh?" "Your powers are great, but you have weaknesses. I can alter you to get rid of those weaknesses. Get rid of the blind rage that you enter into. Get rid of the drop in heart rate after you use your powers. Protect those parts of your body, like your heart, which are still vulnerable." "Why? How?"  
  
"The how is simple. I am a geneticist. Anything is possible given time. The why? Well, you would agree to serve me, as my personal guard. Normally I would simply transfer your powers to one more willing to serve me, but your unique physiology would be difficult to duplicate." "So you think that just because you offer me invincibility.." "And power, and wealth, and women, and anything else you wish," the Master interrupted. "I'll abandon my friends, work for you, probably against them? Abandon all that is good and just and work for some mad scientist?" Berzerker was indignant. "Yes." "Can I have my own band?" The Master seemed a bit surprised at this request, but assented. "Very well, you can have your own band." "Cool. Deal."  
  
Rebel and Beast avoided the guards as best they could. The needed to find their friends, not take on impossible odds. Rebel had her golden discs in her hands, once again one between each of her fingers, and Beast was hopping from floor to walls to ceiling. Just as she was rounding a corner, Rebel's precognition kicked in. Running to quickly to stop she broke into a roll, moving ahead and to the side. The startled monkeys gibbered in surprise and came to a halt. Six golden discs flew out, and six monkeys fell, some with large holes in their bodies, some electrocuted and some the centre of a fairly large explosion. Beast, who had been swinging up along the ceiling (this place was designed with monkeys in mind, after all), dropped in amongst the creatures. He landed on two of them, knocking their breath from them. He grabbed another two as he bounced away, slamming the two together and dropping to the floor as he hurled the two he had knocked down into a wall.  
Rebel stood and dusted herself off as Beast landed by the last one. Beast grinned as he lifted the screaming monkey above his head and spun him around like pizza dough. As the monkey screeched and dropped its weapons as it was hurled into a wall.  
"I'm impressed," Rebel admitted to the furry X-Man.  
"As am I," Beast replied. He looked at the six she had fallen. "A bit bloodier than I prefer, but impressive none the less."  
"In my world, if you don't play for keeps you don't play for long."  
"Alas that it must oft be so."  
"A philosophical discussion?" Berzerker grinned foolishly. "You surprise me, Reb."  
"Kyle," she said, rushing forward. "Where have you been?" He grinned even wider and caught her a vicious backhand. She gasped in surprise, as she flew across the hall. She hit the ground hard.  
"You gotta understand, Reb," Berzerker said, still grinning. "Its nothin' personal. I got a new friend, now." The androgynous figure floated around the corner, its expression still bored. "He's a geneticist. Calls himself the Master, if you can believe that."  
"A geneticist," Beast mused. "Then I assume that you are responsible for the monstrosities that act as your servants." He gestured to the dead bodies littering the floor.  
"Correct," the Master replied calmly. Neither he nor Berzerker made a move forward. They seemed to be waiting for Beast to make the first move.  
"Why? Why commit such a heinous act? Surely you must realise that what you have done is wrong? To deliberately twist these poor creatures into these monstrous forms is abhorrent."  
"All is accepted in the name of science."  
"No!" Beast half barked, half growled the exclamation. "Science is no excuse for indecent morals. The study of science necessitates that one be more responsible, not less."  
"Berzerker?" Rebel asked as she lifted herself from the floor. "Why?"  
"He's offering me invincibility, Reb," Berzerker replied. He slung his arm over the Master's shoulders. "And a band! There's just one problem." A slight shift and he had the Master in a headlock; a sudden twist and its neck was broken. "He's an idiot."  
Rebel stood up whipping the blood from her mouth. "You could have been a bit more gentle with me."  
"I wanted to make it look real."  
"I could have faked it well enough."  
Beast coughed. "You mean to say that you were pretending to switch sides?" He turned to Rebel. "And you knew?"  
"Of course I knew," she said. "You don't think I'd actually let him hit me? I mean, I do have precognition."  
"How did you know?"  
"He only ever calls me 'Reb' when he wants me to go along with something. I knew he had something up his sleeve." She glanced at Berzerker's bare chest. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."  
There was a slight tremor and the building seemed to shake. "What's going on?" Berzerker asked.  
A piece of metal fell from the ceiling and clanged loudly to the ground. "I would surmise," Beast stated, raising his voice over the growing tumult as metal groaned and shook. "That with the death of the Master, the tower shall shortly subside."  
"Huh?"  
"Lets get the hell out of here!" Rebel translated.  
"Oh!" He paused. A large mettle beam hit him on the shoulder and bounced off. "Which way is out?"  
"I don't know." They both looked at Beast, but he could only shrug.  
"Right," Berzerker said, gritting his teeth. "One exit, coming up." With that he ploughed through the solid metal wall, splitting it like rice paper. Beast and Rebel followed close behind.  
  
Rogue could hardly believe it. Shortly after the building had begun to collapse strange, monkey-like creatures had attacked them. Rogue had taken out the two that attacked her quickly, but Shadow had finished off the other ten in that short space of time.  
It had been amazing. He even used Gambit's body as a weapon, swinging the Cajun's feet to 'kick' the attacking creatures. He had dodged and weaved through the mass of fur and weapons as though he were unencumbered. He didn't even bother to use his dagger. And when it was done, he simply continued to jog on as though nothing had happened.  
Rogue couldn't help feeling a bit nervous around Shadow. He had dealt with his opponents with clinical professionalism. He seemed cold and distant, as though the world wasn't real to him. It wasn't that he seemed evil; it was just that Rogue got the feeling he would kill her if she proved inconvenient, and he would have a second thought about it.  
The managed to escape from the building before it collapsed. They found the others outside, waiting for them. "What happened to Gambit?" Cyclops demanded. Wolverine helped Shadow lay Gambit gently on the ground.  
"He touched me," Rogue said.  
"What a time to be stealing a kiss," Wolverine snorted.  
"It was an accident," she said fiercely. "He put his arms round my waist, and, well, it went through my clothes."  
Cyclops looked puzzled, glancing at her clothing. For the first time he noticed the dress she was wearing. His eyes bulged out slightly. The other X-Men were all likewise staring at the beautiful dress. "Where did you get that?" Jean asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.  
"Shadow gave it to her," Ebony guessed. The X-Men looked from Rogue to Ebony, to Shadow and back to Rogue. They seemed even more puzzled.  
"Something for emergencies?" Psylocke asked Shadow, raising her eyebrow quizzically.  
"Its an illusion," Shadow explained shortly.  
"And when Remy touched me, his hand went through it and." Rogue reiterated.  
"Though I hasten to interrupt this fascinating conversation," Druid stated blandly. "You do realise that we are not all here?"  
Shadow looked around. Rebel, Berzerker and Beast had not arrived yet. "I'll find them."  
Ebony nodded, but before Shadow had gone five steps one of the walls burst outwards in a shower of mettle. When the dust cleared, they could see the three standing there.  
"See?" Berzerker said. "I told you we'd get out. And you doubted me."  
Rebel shook her head helplessly. She saw Shadow and she rushed over to him. "You OK?" Shadow nodded. He glanced at the equipment she was carrying. "Oh, we found these." She and Beast (who had helped her carry everything) handed Bishop his weapons and Cyclops his visor. She held a bunch of cards and a uniform. "So, who do these belong to?"  
"The cards would be Gambits," Beast informed her. "Who, it appears, has taken the opportunity to be comatose." He glanced sidelong at Rogue. "Stealing a kiss again, was he?"  
"It wasn't like that," Rogue demanded. She snatched the uniform from Rebel's hands. "Ah believe this is mine." She looked around, not making a move to put the uniform on.  
"Well?" Berzerker asked. "Aren't you going to put it on?"  
"Not with ya'll watchin' me," she replied indignantly.  
"Oh please?" Bobby begged.  
"Yeah, please?" Berzerker added.  
She scowled at the two of them. Shadow stepped forward, glaring at them. He waved his hands and Rogue was encased in a globe of darkness. "Aw, you're no fun," Berzerker complained. Shadow didn't bother to reply, he just walked away.  
The others were discussing what had happened, and making introductions. Soon Rogue emerged from the darkness in her uniform, joining the others in their discussions. Wolverine and Druid, who had a sense of smell almost as good as the X-Man's, went out to see if anyone had escaped, or if all the monkeys had died, before they leave.  
Berzerker was staring appreciatively at Psylocke. Beast considered saying something, but the beautiful woman was ignoring the teen, tending to a wound Angle had acquired in the battle. Also, after the display with the Master, Beast was less worried about Berzerker being a danger to the group. Still, his presence was likely to cause some problems.  
Storm walked over to Shadow, who was standing apart from the others, deep in thought. She stood there for a moment, studying his face, looking for his reaction to these events. He seemed to be ignoring her. "Shadow," she said. He turned to her. She looked at his burning red eyes. "Rogue told us that you saved her life."  
Shadow shrugged. "So?"  
"She told us how you saved her life." Shadow looked puzzled. "Rogue's power means that if anyone touches her she drains their memories, their mutant powers, and their life."  
"Powerful," Shadow stated. "But I think I understand what you're saying. She can' t control it?"  
"If anyone else had revived her, they would be lying beside Gambit."  
"Ah. And the girl is starved of physical contact. How tragic. I still see no reason to mention this to me."  
"Rogue has dreamed of being able to touch someone since she gained her mutant powers."  
"And now she can touch me. Yes, yes, we all understand this." Shadow paused, and then scrutinised Storm. "Ah. You, as a concerned friend, want to see how I would react to her approaching me. Am I right?" Storm nodded. "Don't worry. Though Rogue is more than averagely attractive, I don't have time for that kind of thing." With that he turned away.  
"One more thing, Shadow," Storm said. "When you created the illusion of the Rogue's clothing, why did you make it such a beautiful dress? Wouldn't something more practical have been just as appropriate?"  
"A beautiful dress for a beautiful woman," Shadow replied absently, walking away.  
"I told you he was a romantic," Rebel said smugly from behind Storm, where she had been listing in to the conversation. "Don't worry about anything. I'll make sure he behaves."  
  
Meanwhile, the southern belle in question was staring at Shadow, a puzzled expression on her face. "Don't even think about it," someone said from behind her.  
She turned to see Ebony, a serious expression on her face, standing behind her. "Ah don't know what you're talking about."  
"They explained your 'situation' to me."  
"So?"  
"So you're obviously thinking about the possibilities in a relationship with Shadow. Don't"  
"Ah take it he's already spoken for, sugar?"  
Ebony laughed. "Not likely. Shadow isn't the kind of person to get tied down in romance and love." She turned serious again. "Let me give you a piece of advice. If you're just looking for a romp in the bed, then by all means approach him. I don't know weather or not he'll accept; I've never bothered trying to figure him out. But if you're looking for a relationship, you'd be better off sticking with the Cajun. Shadow doesn't love. Other women have tired, and, in the end, they've all left. Most have died." She shook her head at Rogue's shocked expression. "Shadow's not a bad guy, but he's no saint. He does what's necessary to get the job done. He's used women's feelings for him to get them to do things they would never otherwise do; things that cost them their lives but that help us catch the villain." She paused and looked strait at Rogue's eyes. "If it came down between one's life and his, Shadow would save anyone without a second's thought. But if it comes down to one's life or the villain escaping, well, I wouldn't be making any long-term plans." Ebony placed a hand on Rogues shoulder. "So take it from someone who's known him the longest. He can be your ally, your friend or even your lover, but he will never be your love." With that she walked off, joining the others.  
Rogue puzzled over the woman's words. Obviously she assumed that just because Rogue had discovered she could touch Shadow, she would run into Shadow's arms begging him to love her. The thought had never crossed her mind. Well, maybe just a bit. All right, so she had very nearly done just that. But she had seen enough of Shadow to know that probably wasn't a good idea. His appearance, the appearance of the X-Knights in general, has changed things, though. And she couldn't guess how they would change. 


	4. A Day Off

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. Things have been a bit hectic at the moment. I hope you like it. I tried to make the beginning a bit lighter, more relaxed than the rest of it, but the end, well. you'll just have to read on and see.  
  
Disclaimer: Yet again, I do not own the X-Men nor am I (or will I ever be) making money from this.  
  
The professor was waiting for them when they entered the mansion. He had sensed them approach, but he would rather discuss what they have been doing in person than psychically, so he did not sense their guests.  
Cyclops and Jean were the first into the mansion. The others were either showing the X-Knights around the lower levels for a while. Cyclops was talking, a cup of coffee in one hand. Jean was half-listening to her husband, half lost in thought. Neither of them noticed Xavier sitting across the room at first.  
"I assume there was some emergency that called everyone away?" he asked them.  
"Professor!" Jean exclaimed. "You're back early. I thought you were returning tomorrow."  
"Things went quicker than I anticipated," he admitted.  
"How did things go at Washington?" Scott asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down.  
"As well as could be expected. After the recent tragedies, there is a lot of fear of mutants. I hope that I have done something to help calm things slightly. What has been happening here?"  
Scott was about to reply when Jean cut him off. "I think that we had best let out guests explain." Curious, the professor sent out a mental probe to try to identify the guests. "No peeking," Jean mock-chided him. "I want it to be a surprise."  
Smiling, he accented to her request. He turned his wheelchair to the door, awaiting the arrival of the mystery guest. He ran through a number of possibilities, but when the doors opened, he was completely surprised.  
"Good evening, Professor Xavier," Ebony smiled. "You're looking well."  
"As are you, Captain Valmont." He smiled kindly. "Considering our last meeting, I hope you are not offended if I don't say I'm pleased to see you."  
She chuckled softly. "I don't blame you. That was rather inconvenient, wasn't it?"  
"At least. I must admit your presence quite astounds me. I would assume the others are here, as well?"  
"They're being given the grand tour."  
"I trust there is an explanation for your presence?"  
"Not really. I think it best if I try explain everything, though." As she stepped forward, her smile turned into a grimace and she clutched her side. Jean and Scott leapt up to help her, but she waved them away. "It's nothing," she assured them. "Just an old wound woken up by the struggle."  
"Are you sure?" the professor asked. "Perhaps you would like Beast to take a look?"  
"The good doctor has more important things to do than look at an old war dog like me," she said, grinning. "No, it's just been a long day. I arrived here immediately after the battle with Lord Sumner, and a couple of things have happened since then, as well."  
"Then I suggest that you get a good night's sleep," the professor commented, only slightly surprised that an event that had happened half a lifetime ago to him was still today to her. They had dealt with time- travellers before, after all. "As long as there is no immediate threat, explanations can wait till the morning. Jean will show you to your room."  
"Thank you." She had straitened up again and followed Jean out of the room, gingerly holding her side.  
Cyclops turned to the professor, who was silently musing. "I imagine that it's been an interesting day," the elder man said after a moment.  
"Yes," Cyclops replied.  
"I believe that it will get even more interesting shortly." He turned to leave. "Show the others to rooms near each other," he called over his shoulder as he left. "I'm going to get some rest. It's been a long day for all."  
  
The next morning the X-Men woke to the smell of breakfast. Curiously they all emerged from their rooms to explore this strange occurrence.  
Beast, who had fallen asleep in the lab (again) while trying to analyse the readings taken from the appearance of the X-Knights, was the first to make his way to the kitchen. The smell had reminded him that he hadn't eaten in quite a while, and he was suddenly ravenously hungry.  
He found all the X-Knights in the kitchen. Shadow was leaning back in a chair against the wall, drinking a beer. Druid was sitting cross- legged on the floor by the window deep in meditation and Ebony was reclined in another chair reading yesterday's paper (which had been left out the night before) and holding a burning cigarette in one hand. Berzerker, stripped to the waist as always, was doing one-handed push-ups and chatting amiably with Rebel. The young woman was in the kitchen, cooking.  
The breakfast she was cooking would easily feed all the X-Men and X- Knights, even considering some of their ravenous appetites. Bacon, eggs, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast. the list goes on. Rebel was somehow managing to cook it all, hold a conversation with Berzerker and try to badger someone into laying a table.  
"Fascinating," Beast muttered.  
"Hey!" Berzerker said, noticing him. "Doc. How ya doin?"  
"Passable," he said, distracted by the wealth of smells teasing his senses.  
"I'd appreciate some help here!" Rebel called from deep in the kitchen.  
Ebony snapped her paper closed sharply, took one last puff from her cigarette before putting it out, and smiled. "Good morning, Doctor. Shadow, go give Janet a hand. Doctor McCoy can show me where they keep the cutlery and I'll lay the table."  
"Oh, certainly my dear lady," Beast replied. "And please, call me Hank."  
"In that case, please call me Elena."  
Shadow grunted and stood up slowly from the chair. He shuffled over to the kitchen where Janet swiftly put him to work. Soon he was chatting with the young woman while he swiftly diced and chopped various ingredients.  
"What's goin' on?" A yawning Rogue asked as she came into the room.  
"Our guests have been so kind as to cook for us," Beast replied, helping Elena get the table ready.  
"Have they?" she glanced in the kitchen. "Well Ah never."  
"Now that's what you call a welcome guest," Angle commented as he came in. One by one the X-Men filtered in. Soon they were seated around the table, discussing everything from the current news to world history as Elena tried to glean some idea of this new world. Gambit had already tried to 'help' cook, but when a globe of darkness had enveloped his head he gave up and left, food unspiced. Scott had agreed to show Kyle the Danger Room and set up a training program for him. Peoples' orders for eggs had been taken, and Janet and Shadow were kept busy for quiet a while. By the time the last X-Man had arrived, smoking a cigar and grumbling about all the racket, the food was ready.  
The food was laid out on the table and everyone tucked it. Druid and Storm were deep in a conversation about nature, both so interested in the discussion that they merely picked at their food. Janet was chatting with anyone and everyone, while Kyle was so busy eating (he ate enough for three people, and only stopped because Elena told him too) that he didn't really say much. Shadow spent more time listening than talking, but he did agree to a poker game with Gambit and some of the others. Elena spent much of her time catching up on the differences between this world and hers.  
"So what are your plans for the day?" Xavier asked when it seemed everyone was finished.  
"I was hoping to have a chance to go shopping," Janet said. "I need some new clothes." She grinned. "I don't actually wear this all the time."  
"Me too," Kyle said around a mouth of food. He swallowed. "I need to buy some music. This reality has some great stuff."  
"How do you know?" Bobby asked curiously.  
"I only need about an hour or two of sleep," he replied, stuffing another mouthful of food in his mouth. "I spent most of the night watching music TV."  
"Oh."  
"I imagine Shadow and Druid will amuse themselves," Ebony said wryly, producing a nod from the two. "There are a few things I could use, but I was also hoping to catch up on things. I also imagine that you'd want to discuss yesterday's events." The last was directed to the professor.  
"Indeed," he replied. "I'm sure many of the X-Men will be more than willing to help you with the shopping. And don't be concerned with money. We will provide enough."  
"No need," Shadow said. He pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and dumped it on the table.  
"Where did you get that?" Cyclops asked suspiciously.  
"Do we want to know?" Jean commented.  
"No," Elena, Janet and Kyle replied together.  
"I don't sleep," Shadow stated simply.  
"Do you mean to say that you were up all night robbing people?" Cyclops asked indignantly, standing up. Janet sighed and put her head in her hands in despair while Elena shook her head.  
"The owners didn't need it anymore," Shadow replied, shrugging.  
"Why not?" Many of the X-Men had already guessed the answer, and the rest of the table had hushed as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch.  
"They were dead."  
Cyclops almost exploded. Only a calming hand from Jean kept him from lashing out at the calm man.  
Shadow grinned tersely. "I went down into New York to see what was going on. I happened to be in the neighbourhood when a couple of hoods tried to rape a young girl." His smile faded. "I don't approve of that kind of thing."  
Elena sighed. "How long, Shadow?"  
"Only an hour," he shrugged. "I was in a good mood."  
Elena growled in anger and lent forward. "I've told you not to do that! We need to talk. Now." She stood up and marched purposefully out of the room. Shadow followed close behind. After a moment Elena's raised voice could be heard from a few rooms away.  
"What was that about?" Rogue asked.  
"It's complicated," Janet said. "Shadow has a sense of honour," Druid said. "It is not a normal one, but it is strong."  
"He's actually a bit of a gentleman," Janet added. "He thinks women should be protected, looked after. And his powers, well, they gave him the knowledge to make him the perfect assassin. It taught him how to do other things. Not nice things."  
"He tortures 'em," Wolverine more stated then asked. Janet nodded wordlessly.  
Everyone at the table blanched slightly. There was a deafening silence in which only the slow ticking of the clock Elena's raised voice could be heard. Eventually, Janet spoke. "Elena's been trying to get him to stop it, but, well," she sighed and looked a bit ashamed. "It's been useful occasionally."  
"It is not a particularly nice practice," Druid admitted. "But our world was not a particularly nice place. On the way back from the Amazon, Ebony had a word with Shadow about these things. However, I fear our friend rarely listens when other people give him advice."  
"Don't be hard on him," Kyle said, noticing the looks on some of the X-Men's face. "He's a good guy, but he's had a tough life."  
"Its not his fault, either," Janet said. "He's got a darkness in him. He tries to hide it, but its there. It comes out when he loses his temper. If he had a choice, I think he'd get rid of it in an instant, but he can't."  
"I think we understand," the professor said, noticing Elena re- entering the room. "Many of us have done things we are not proud of, and some of us have dark sides which we struggle to contain. Part of what we do here is learning to control that, so that we only use our powers for the good of mankind. Perhaps we can help Shadow overcome his demons."  
"You won't get a chance today," Elena said grimly. "He's taken off." She sighed sadly and sat down. "I may have been a bit harsh with him. I guess that I just don't want him messing things up, both for us, and you. The last thing you need is rumours of some horrible mutant murderer out on a rampage."  
"I agree," the professor nodded. "But we must try to understand him rather than judge him."  
"You mean you're going to let him get away with what he did?" Cyclops demanded.  
The professor shrugged. "It is not much worse than what many of us have done," he stated blandly. Most of the X-Men looked guilty. "He needs our help. We cannot do that if he is not here."  
There was the sound of grinding of metal and then a quick roar of an engine. "I think Shadow has taken one of the jets," Storm commented.  
"If one of you will go with me, I'll go get him back," Janet said.  
"No, you need your rest," the professor said. "I suggest that you take the day off to do some shopping, as you planned. Some of the X-Men can follow him. The jets all have tracking devices on them, so it shouldn't be too difficult."  
"I'll go," Rogue volunteered.  
Gambit shot her a suspicious glance. "Gambit shall also go," he stated.  
The professor nodded. "Take one of the jets and follow him. Don't force him to come back, but keep an eye on him, and don't let him hurt anyone." They nodded and exited.  
Elena sighed and shook her head. "I'm really sorry, professor," she said.  
He held up a hand. "There is nothing to be sorry for," he assured her. "Now, I think we all have things to do today. I think it best if we get started."  
  
Kyle hummed softly to himself as he wandered around the music store. Ever so often, seemingly at random, he grabbed a CD from the rack, looked at it briefly, and put it in the basket he was carrying. Already it was fairly full. Bobby and Scott had joined him, and were wandering aimlessly among the aisles. Bobby had a pair of CDs in hand, but they had been there for over an hour already and Kyle showed little sign of being ready to leave. Kyle was flirting outrageously with an attractive young woman who had been watching him for the past ten minutes. He grinned and laughed as he not so subtly appreciated her physical attributes. After a few moments she scribbled her number down on a piece of paper, handed it to him and sauntered off with an inviting wink. "He's good," Bobby admitted to Scott as they watched the exchange. "Jean explained it to me," Scott said a bit disapprovingly. "It's his mutant power. It makes all women attracted to him." "You mean.?" Scott just nodded. Bobby gave a short whistle. "Now that's a nice power." Scott glared at him. Bobby shrugged and grinned. "I think it's time to go," Scott said darkly. He obviously didn't like the young X-Knight. Bobby chuckled softly as they walked over to where Kyle was perusing the shelves. "Are you done yet?" Scott asked shortly. "Hmmm?" Kyle grabbed another CD. He looked up and saw the X-Men leader's dark scowl. He grinned evilly. "Hey, Scotty! How's it hanging?" Scott glowered. "Are you done yet?" He repeated. "Yes, sir!" he said, ripping off a rather impressive salute, not losing his grin. "By the way, I just met a nice young girl. She's got a sister, if you're interested. I'm sure a cute young girl like that would just die to meet you. And you should have a bit of fun, don't you think." "I'm married." "So?" Scott frowned and stormed off. Kyle laughed loudly to himself and leaned back against the wall. "I like him," he said to Bobby. Bobby laughed as well. "Well, we'd better go," he said after a moment. "We've got a lot to do." Kyle nodded. "Go tell captain one-eye that I'm going to buy everything now and I'll be out in a minuet." Bobby nodded, still smiling and walked away. Kyle wandered over to the cashier's desk, picking up a couple of more CDs on the way. "Can I help.you.?" the woman at the counter's voice grew very soft and quiet as she turned noticed Kyle. She felt her heart began to race as she stared at his rippling muscles, broad grin and beautiful blond hair. She felt herself melt as she lost herself in his deep blue eyes. The entire world seemed to stop as she beheld this pinnacle of masculine perfection. "Yes, my dear." he paused and looked at her nametag. "Pauline." He grinned boyishly at the passingly attractive young woman. He heaved the pile of CDs onto the counter effortlessly. "I'd like to buy these." "Hmm?" she replied dreamily. "Oh, yes, buy. How nice." She shook her head to clear the warm, fuzzy thoughts that were clouding her mind. "Um, yes, right, I'll just ring these up." she reached out to get one of the CD's and her hand brushed his as he tried to hand it to her. She felt a jolt of electricity run through her entire body. She took the CD as she blushed furiously, trying to get the job done. But she couldn't take her eyes off him. She wanted to say something, to be smart or sexy, or, or. but her tongue was like lead in her mouth. It took a while, but eventually she had all his CD's bagged and handed to him. "Um. that will be. um." Kyle caulked an eyebrow and chuckled softly. He got this from time to time. He handed her a handful of money. "That should take care of it. And keep the change for yourself, beautiful." Pauline only blush in response, silently cursing herself. Talk to him, say something! At least say thank you. But just as she was about to reply, he turned and left, not giving her a second glance, or a second's thought. She stared longingly at his retreating back. Somewhere not very far away soft, lonely, lovely music began to play. The sound of haunting flutes and poignant violins seemed to waft through the air. Pauline shook her head clear. "Stop that," she snapped irritably. The music stopped. Sighing a long, lonely sigh, she pushed the thought of this perfect man from her mind and got back to work.  
  
Janet grinned as she stood, waiting for the X-Woman's appraisal. Jean carefully studied the young woman's choice of apparel. "Interesting," she said after a moment. Janet wore a long, leather trench coat over a pair of jeans and a small, gauzy, brightly coloured top that showed, in Jean's opinion, too much bellow and much to much above. The red silk scarf was once again tied around her neck, and a matching one was tied around her waist. Her shoes were comfortable and with only a moderate heel, but stylish none-the-less. A pair of gold earrings, shaped like crescent moons, dangled from her ears and a gold chain bracelet adorned her right wrist. Her raven hair was lose and hung strait down her back. "Ah, what do you know?" she grinned at the beautiful X-Woman. "Oh, I like it," Jean assured her. "It's just. unusual." "And the costumes you guy's wear are normal?" she arched an eyebrow. "That's different," Jean said, a bit defensively. Janet laughed, a lovely, tinkling sound. "I understand. I'm just teasing." Jean smiled as well. "I know." Janet sighed and looked at the large pile of clothes they had accumulated. "Do you think we have enough?" "I don't know," Jean replied. "What do you think?" Janet took out the large wad of cash Shadow had given her, flicking through it. "I think this should do. I've got a few more things I want to pick up at some other places." Janet got changed back into her clothes and the two women gathered up the clothes and took it to the counter. They patiently waited while the cashier totalled the price. Janet seemed a bit distracted and Jean could feel the concern radiating off of her. "What's wrong?" Jean asked as the two of them, shopping in hand, left the store. "Nothing," Janet replied automatically, flashing a brief smile. "Don't lie. I can tell. I'm a telepath, remember?" Janet gave an unladylike snort and a rueful grin. "I forgot about that." There was a short pause. "I guess I'm just worried about what's going to happen to us." "How do you mean?"  
  
"We don't belong here," Janet stated flatly. "We're from another world. We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be." She paused for a moment. "I don't think we fit in here. Things are too different. but too similar." "That will change," Jean assured her. "You'll become used to it here." "I don't think that's the main problem. Our purpose was to stop Lord Sumner from changing the world, from making things different. But by us being here, things are going to change. We may cause more damage than Lord Sumner." "You may not. Maybe you're supposed to be here." "Maybe." She sighed, staring at the crowds around them. "Maybe not."  
  
They had followed him for half the day. He was good, they had to give him that. Despite the homing beacon, they couldn't catch up to him, though they never lost him. After a while, though, he stopped somewhere in Texas, near the Mexico border. Rogue got out of the jet and looked at the empty one sitting near by. "This ain't good," she murmured. "Merde!" Gambit swore. "How we find him now, chere?" "Ah don't know, swamp rat." She thought for a moment. "Well, he's got to come back here eventually. Why don't we just wait here for him?" "Non, chere, not good. What if he does something while we here waiting?" "Good point. You got any bright ideas?" "Oui. Gambit goes looking for him, and you wait here till he returns." "No way, swamp rat. Ah'll go looking for him. Ah can fly, so Ah'll cover a lot more ground than you." Without waiting for a response, she took off into the air, leaving Gambit behind. "Merde," he swore again. Sighing, he leaned against one of the jets, shuffling one of his many decks of cards.  
  
"They seem to be enjoying each other's company." Elena turned from the window where she watched Druid and Storm talking quietly in the garden. She smiled. "Druid's been waiting most of his life to find someone who looks at the world the same way he does." "Do you think Storm does?" the professor asked her. Elena thoughtfully sipped at her tea. "No," she said, after a moment. "Not quite. Druid looks at the world the way he does because of his powers. Storm has a similar connection to nature, I know, but it's not the same." "Do any two people ever see things the same?" "You have a point. I think she understands him better than most people, though." The professor nodded. They were silent for a moment, the professor taking time to absorb the information Elena had just told him. He looked at the beautiful woman, still wearing her costume, as he though about all the things that she and her friends had accomplished in the past day. "How have you been?" she asked the professor after a while. He smiled wryly. Though it had been only a few hours between their last meetings for the young woman, it had been half a lifetime for him. "As well as can be expected," he replied. "And Magnus? How is he?" Xavier winced. He had been expecting this question for a while now. "There have been problems." Elena turned to him curiously. "Not dead, I hope?" "No, not dead. I am afraid that our paths split not long after you aided us. He feels that mutants and humans cannot peacefully co-exist." "And so now you fight each other, both trying to make your dreams come true." "Exactly." Elena shook her head in sadness. "How horrible. And you two seemed such close friends. It seems sad that that had to end. I would have liked to speak with Magnus again." "And he would probably wish to speak with you. Perhaps you shall have the chance." "Perhaps." She smiled and sat down. "I think that's about enough chat. I still want to know as much about this world as possible. Now, lets start at the beginning. what happened after we left you last?" The professor began a brief outline of history since that day, paying special attention to the development of mutants and the effect that had on 'normal society.' Elena listened intently and chimed in occasionally with questions.  
  
"Truly beautiful," Druid stated as he admired the garden Storm so carefully tended. He knelt down to admire a particularly beautiful rose. "Thank you," she replied humbly. "All it takes is a little effort and a little patience." He smiled softly. "I would have loved to have had time to properly tend to a garden such as this. Alas, ever stern duty kept me constantly active, and I was unable to devote any time to such a pleasurable pursuit." "But surely you would not need time? Doesn't your power mean that you could create a garden at a whim?" "Yes it does. I could create the most beautiful of gardens in the space of a heartbeat if I so desired. But the joy of a garden is as much in the time and effort it takes to create it as it is in the beauty." Storm nodded. "I understand," she said simply. They paused for a moment, letting the silence entwine them. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, but rather a peaceful one. Neither felt the need to speak, both comfortable in the presence of each other. After a while, though, Storm asked a question that had been bothering her for a while. "Why do you aid Ebony?" "Why do you aid the professor?" Druid replied with a mysterious smile. Storm thought about this briefly. "I believe in what he is doing. Also, he and the others are good friends to me." She paused, and stared at the enigmatic mutant. "However, from what you have said, much of your actions are driven by Nature itself. What interest could Nature have in the actions of a band of mutants?" Druid was still smiling. "You seem to have forgotten that I myself am a mutant. Does it not seem reasonable that I would fight for mutant rights?" "Perhaps. But I feel that nothing you do is quite so personally motivated." Druid laughed, a warm, rich laugh that echoed through the trees. "Well done, my dear, well done. I have spent many years with Ebony and the others, and they have yet to ask these questions of me. I was wondering how long it would take someone to realise. My joining with them was indeed motivated by the need of Nature. It is not very complicated. Lord Sumner changed the natural course of events significantly, in a way that would endanger Nature herself. Thus, I was given the task of setting things right again. I could sense that Ebony was important, and that by working with her I could reach my goal. I am pleased to say that it took less time than I expected." Storm smiled. "I had assumed it would be something like that. But what now? What new task has nature set before you?" "None," he replied sombrely. "There is aught wrong with Nature that I could fix." "Surely there is much damage man has done to Nature?" Storm asked, a bit surprised. "True, but I would be ill advised to deal with it, for a two-fold reason. First, Nature herself shall heal her wounds in time, though we, and all our descendants, may be long gone. Secondly, there are those humans who are dealing with things in a peaceable manner. I am afraid that I am ill equipped to deal with such delicate, draw-out negotiations, and should I interfere it would be more direct." "And you think this would do your cause more harm than good?" "Exactly. So I wait, confidant that Nature will right herself in time." Storm nodded. Once again there was that calm, stately silence. Druid seemed lost in though, and Storm considered this strange man gravely. Once again, it was Storm that broke the silence. "It must be hard, living with so much pain," she said softly. Druid raised an eyebrow slightly and turned to look at her. "I am assuming that Jean informed you of my power?" Storm nodded. "It is nothing. I have grown used to it. I barely even notice it now." "All the pain in the world and you barely notice it? It drove you mad for uncounted years." "True, but the mind is a wonderfully adaptive thing. Remember, also, that I feel all the joy of the world as well." "Still, it is so heavy a burden for one man to bear." Druid smiled kindly to the African Goddess. "My dear lady Munro, your beauty and your power are surpassed only by your wisdom and your compassion. I am glad that I have been fortunate enough to have met you." With that, he held out a clenched hand. "Please accept this as a token of my appreciation." He opened his hand slowly, and a flower bloomed from inside it. It was a beautiful white rose with jagged yellow stripes like lightning running down the side. Storm took the rose gravely and held it gently in her hand. She took a gentle sniff of its fragrance and was overwhelmed by the unearthly beauty of it. She smiled. "A noble gift." "For a noble woman," Druid replied simply. "It shall last you all your days, living e'en though it has not water or light." "Thank you," she replied simply. Druid bowed floridly. They stood together, Storm hold the rose gently in her hands, watching as the sun set over her lovely garden.  
  
It took most of the rest of the day to find Shadow. When Rogue finally found him, the sun was already setting. Shadow was standing in a small village, the street empty around him, looking into the south. A great sadness seemed to radiate from him. Rogue landed softly behind him and walked up slowly, trying not to disturb him. "I grew up here," he said suddenly, not moving at all, his voice filled with a kind of clinical detachment that barely hid the deep sadness beneath. "I know it's hard to believe. I spent a fair few years trying to erase all traces of a southern accent. Something about it reminded me of home, and I guess that I had too many bad memories." He stopped for a moment, and Rogue inched closer. "It's different," he continued. "The fort's gone, for one," he said, pointing to the south. "They built it to protect us. The Mexican boarder isn't very far away, and Apocalypse's troops tended to raid the villages around here. Not that the fort proved much use in the end. "Most of the rest of the villages were abandoned by the time the attack came. My mother had been in the army until a fight against some of Apocalypse's mutants where she lost one of her legs. She moved here with my father, who died not long after my younger sister was born. I guess she didn't want to leave, and she convinced most of the people to stay. "So we continued on as if nothing was wrong, only a day's travel away from the enemy. Then, one day, the attack started. First, they bombed the area. The first building to go was the corner shop over there. My best friend had been inside buying a box of chocolates for his girlfriend at the time. She was at home, waiting for him. It was their anniversary. They were supposed to go to the cinema afterwards, and I was going to meet one of her cousins. They were always setting me up on blind dates. "The next bomb nearly got me. I was thrown across the street and knocked out. Next thing I remember I'm in some makeshift hospital converted form someone's bomb shelter, and being tended by one of the girls from my school. The people are frightened, terrified, but they're banding together and working. "My mom's wandering around, using her simple walking stick. I remember that she could move surprisingly fast. She was organising things, getting things done. People are rushing around, crying, dying. Everything is so confusing. Sometimes, the ground shakes with an explosion and dirt and dust dance around the room. "Then someone in a uniform busted in. The army was coming. They had fought the mutants and lost. Some had left for reinforcements, but the others had orders to hold the town against the mutants. They were supposed to last until the others arrived. We had to evacuate. "As we were leaving, another bomb hit. This time, it hit the officers in charge of the rear-guard. The army was battered, tired and defeated. They were facing overwhelming odds, and they knew they were going to lose. Some ran for it. Most would have joined them, but my mom had other ideas. "She took charge. She had been army once, and she would do it again. As the bombs burst around us, she had people build barricades and dig small trenches. Everyone decided to stay. This was our home, and we were going to protect it, or die trying. "We drew the line right here. I stood at this very spot, a gun from a dead soldier in my hand, and a large carving knife at my belt. We were about half army, half civilians, and all scared. My mom was pacing up and down the line, my sister supporting her. She lost her walking stick at some point, I don't know when. She was giving instructions, telling people what to do and where to stand, even as the bombs exploded around us. "It wasn't long before the bombs stopped. We only got a moment's peace before they came. There were hundreds of them, and they were only the advance party. They outnumbered us two to one at least. Those that had weapons had ones far better than ours; most didn't need them. They were all genetically enhanced mutants, and very powerful ones at that. "But somehow, we held for a while. I don't remember much. It was all a blur. I don't know how long we fought. The soldier next to me fell pretty quickly, as did the old man on my other side. I remember seeing my sister fall against a mutant with red skin and flaming hands. They surrounded my mother, and the dead bodies were piling up around her. She had picked up the weapons of one of the fallen mutants and was using it better than they did. She was standing on one her leg now, furry and desperation giving her the ability. "I got hit hard by something I couldn't see, but somehow I knew where it came from. A red-head mutant with skin like ivory and a cruel, haughty face was standing on the hill by a tall, powerful looking man with glowing red eyes that shot forth powerful bursts of energy. They were obviously the leaders. "I hit the ground hard, and I felt my head swim. I was sure I should be dead, and obviously others thought so as well, for I was ignored. I felt a dead body fall on top of me, and then another. I tried to rise, but I was weak and could shift the bodies on top of me. "My mother saw me fall, just as she had seen my sister fall, and she gave a heartbroken cry. She threw herself forward at the mutants, hacking through them, killing them by the score. The attack faltered for a moment as she cut through them, using sheer rage to propel herself forward on her one leg, leaning on enemies and the shattered remains of the buildings for support. "The powerful man watched her clinically until he got a clear shot. I tried to rise, to warn her, but I was still having trouble breathing and my voice wouldn't come. The redhead waved her hand and my mom seemed to rise up from the ground. The powerful man aimed carefully before he shot. His burst tore her apart instantly. "I gave a short cry, but it was lost in the din of battle. Most of the rest of us tried to run, but got cut down by the mutants. Those that stood didn't last much longer. I felt numb as everyone I ever knew lay dead around me. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even breath. "I heard a pair of footsteps in the sudden silence. A pair of boots appeared in front of my vision. 'We have one,' a voice stated in a firm, confident voice. "'Of course.' This voice was female, but cold and emotionless. 'Was there any doubt?' "'That woman gave me concern,' the man stated blandly. "'She was only human.' Then the coldness went out of the voice, and it had an eerie, unearthly purr behind it. 'I find it so appealing when you destroy humans so utterly like that." "I saw another pair of boots enter my vision and heard what I assumed to be a kiss. All the anger and despair welled up inside me broke at that moment. My mother's killers, sharing a passionate kiss over her death. I felt my hand coil around the knife at my belt. "I burst out of the dead bodies and slashed, blindly, twice. There was a twin gasp of shock as the knife hit home both times. The cold redhead and the powerful man looked at me in shock as they died, still holding each other in a passionate embrace. "The fell to the floor, their red blood leaking from them. As they fell, there was a second of shocked silence. Then a roar as the mutants charged me. A red haze seemed to fill my vision, and I swung wildly, with all the passion I could muster. I remember various attacks passing inches from my face or just over my head. I waded through the mutants like a man possessed. "I don't know how long I fought. It couldn't have been very long. After a while I was stopped and captured. I don't know why they didn't kill me outright. Maybe they wanted to punish me for killing their leader. "I was taken to their fort not far away in Mexico and given over to their overall commander, a white skinned demon-like creature with a strong British accent and a flair for the dramatic. He seemed particularly upset with me. Seems that the two mutant leaders were important to him for something. "So he tortured me. When he left Mexico and went back to South America, he took me with him. My friends think that I learned about torture from the dagger, and I'd prefer if they continue to do so. In actual fact, everything I know about torture I learned form that few years of my life when the mutants tortured me. After the first few weeks my mind retreated in on itself, but that didn't help. Have you ever been tortured by a telepath? They can do things to your psyche that would make the Spanish Inquisition blanch. "I lost track of time, but it must have been over a year before I was rescued. It seems that our little stand at the village made a difference. The army was able to break through the week defences there and make a base inside the Mexican border. Eventually they broke through to South America. "A couple of medics grabbed me and had me rushed to the nearest city, but the army kept going. I never got to see the white-skinned demon die, but I heard latter that they blew him up and then buried the various pieces of his body in concrete boxes scattered over the free world. Apparently he was quite powerful. "I hadn't actually suffered any serious physical wounds, but my mind was a wreck. I was put in a mental hospital for a year, raving and throwing myself against the walls. If we had lived in a smarter, crueller society they would have let me loose on the mutants. Instead they tried to 'cure' me, looking for ways to bring my mind back from the horrors I had seen. "Then, one night, I started to dream. I hadn't dreamed since they brought me here, largely because the only way they could get me to sleep was to drug me up to the eyeballs. But the dreams began to cut through the haze of my mind. The dreams of a single dagger. "My mind cleared up after that. The doctors claimed that it was their work that did it, and I accepted that. I passed off the dreams as part of my delusion, and left it at that. The dreams stopped after I left, and I never gave them a second thought. "I went north, enrolled in a university and got a degree in ancient and classical archaeology. As soon as I left the university, I got a job at a New York museum cataloguing ancient artefacts. It was a more important job than you might think, considering that we were still at war, though it was coming to a close. "The army had found a lot of stuff in Africa and South America that dated back to well before the war. They needed to know what had been put there by Apocalypse and what was just random junk. They also needed to know what it did and how. "I went up the ranks with surprising speed. I guess my hatred of the mutants drove me to understand them. And understand them I did. "You can tell almost anything about a people by their artefacts, and we had more than enough from the attacks in South America. I began to build of a picture of their society as it was then as well as how it was before. These were a people who, for the most part, were treated as slaves. Apocalypse gave his trusted advisors power, and they used it to beat the other mutants into submission. Most mutants who fought us didn't do it out of hate or greed or evil, like we were led to believe, but out of fear. "And the toys. There were none. Not a single one. No children's clothes either. This was a society of people that had been together since the war started, well over forty years ago. Yet there was no sign of children. From what I had seen of the mutants, this could only mean one thing: there where none. "It took me a while, but I put it together. As soon as a mutant was born, it was genetically enhanced to pass strait through puberty and into adulthood. A combination of technology, telepathic powers and scientific ingenuity were used to mould their mind into such a shape that they would be effective soldier. Like pawns on a chessboard, or cannon fodder, without a moment of love or compassion. "I think after I figured that out I began to hate the mutants less. I do know that one day, I realised that I didn't hate them anymore. In fact, I felt sorry for them. My hatred was completely reserved for Apocalypse and Lord Sumner. "Then, one day, an artefact was brought to us from the East. It had been found on one of Lord Sumner's convoys, but no one could figure out what it was. It was a dagger, with a golden hilt shaped like a dragon's head swallowing the blade. "We were told not to draw the blade, that the last person who did had died instantly, and painfully. I didn't pay attention to it, though. This was the dagger of my dreams, and I knew what I had to do. I slid it from its sheath with a strange familiarity. "The next few moments were darkness. I felt my mind under attack by another presence, and it swept over my feeble defences like a raging rapid over a pebble. After a moment, I surfaced, like a swimmer being pulled from the water just as he was dieing. "I looked around me at the dead bodies of my friends and co-workers. They had been slaughtered, mercilessly and efficiently, large cuts along them. I looked down at my hand. The last drop of blood was being drawn up the blade of the dagger, as though it was drinking. "My mind was dim and far away, like I was a passenger in my own mind. I couldn't quite seem to control what I was doing. The best way I can think to describe it was that it was somewhere between being drunk and having a dream. "I started my work as an assassin, taking the code-name Death. I know I had some kind of objective, but I don't know what it was. I worked for all three sides during the war, seeing and doing such things that I had never imagined possible. Such horrible things. "Then the war ended. There were still wars going on, though, as the petty Asian kingdoms fought amongst one another, so I had plenty of work. Also, there are always plenty of people willing to pay to have someone 'removed.' But I could feel something behind me growing stronger with each kill, breaking through. "That's when I found out something about the dagger. It was serving a creature called the Shadow Dragon from another world that brushed this one. The Shadow Dragon wanted to break into this world and claim it for his own. The dagger, however, was enjoying this world, and didn't want to give it up. It seemed that it had been abandoned for several centuries, or maybe even millennia, before Lord Sumner found it, and it wanted to make up for lost time. "So it decided to fight the Shadow Dragon. But it couldn't do it alone; it needed help. Partly, it needed me. The Shadow Dragon knew how it thinks, but not how I think. I was more than happy to help; the dagger might be bad, but the Shadow Dragon would have made Apocalypse and Lord Sumner look like Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. I began to feel my consciousness given more room, more control. I couldn't completely control my actions, but at least I had some say in what we did. "We also needed an ally. We had heard of Ebony, and all she did. We decided that if anyone had the strength of character to help defeat the Shadow Dragon, it was she. So we sought her out. Our little battle with her was a test; to see if she was as good as we needed her to be. You know what happened next. "When we fought the Shadow Dragon my personality and that of the dagger had to merge in order to defeat it. We had become one, and our two minds were so inseparably linked that it couldn't shove me back into that corner of my mind any more than I could get rid of it. "So that's how things stand now. I'm a mixture of a homicidal dagger built to kill and a nice young boy whose mind was destroyed by a year of constant physical and mental torture." He turned a steely gaze to Rogue, the first he had looked at her since she had arrived. "If sometimes I seem a bit unsociable, I think you'll understand why." They stood there for a moment, silence surrounding them. The last rays of the setting sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Shadow passed a weary hand over his eyes. "I think it's time to return," he said simply, and walked away back towards the jets. Rogue hesitated for a moment. She wanted to say something, but all that she had heard had stunned her. She knew that there was an unspoken request in Shadow's story; she knew he didn't want he to share this story with anyone else. She didn't know if she could. A tear in her eyes, she turned and followed him. 


End file.
